Size-dependent nucleation kinetics at nonplanar nanowire growth interfaces

T Haxhimali and D Buta and M Asta and PW Voorhees and JJ Hoyt, PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 80, 050601 (2009).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.80.050601

In nanowire growth, kinetic processes at the growth interface can play an important role in governing wire compositions, morphologies, and growth rates. Molecular-dynamics simulations have been undertaken to probe such processes in a system featuring a solid-liquid interface shape characterized by a facet bounded by rough orientations. Simulated growth rates display a dependence on nanowire diameter consistent with a size-dependent barrier for facet nucleation. A theory for the interface mobility is developed, establishing a source for size-dependent growth rates that is an intrinsic feature of systems possessing growth interfaces with faceted and rough orientations.

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