Axiotaxy driven growth of belt-shaped InAs nanowires in molecular beam epitaxy

In this study, we demonstrate the axiotaxy driven growth of belt-shaped InAs nanowires using Au catalysts by molecular beam epitaxy. It is found that, the zinc-blende structured InAs nanowires, with the features of [ $\overline{1}\overline{1}\overline{3}$] growth direction and extensive { $1\overline{1}0$} side-surfaces, are induced by catalysts in Au-In αphase through the axiotaxy growth, in which the lattice mismatch between the projections of atomic planes onto nanowire/catalyst interfaces is minimized by forming extraordinary tilted interfaces. Our atomic-resolution in situ TEM heating experiments show that the catalysts remained in the solid state of Au-In αphase during the axiotaxy growth, by which the vapor-solid-solid growth mechanism can be confirmed. Through manipulating the growth direction, this unusual growth mechanism can provide a practical pathway to control the morphology of the low-dimensional nanomaterials, from conventional nanowires to belt-shaped nanowires utilizing a significant lateral growth, simply using nanoparticles as catalyst.