The initial stage of autocatalytic growth of GaAs filamentary nanocrystals

The initial stage of growth of autocatalytic GaAs filamentary nanocrystals by the vapor–liquid–crystal mechanism from a Ga droplet with diffusion collection of gallium adatoms from the entire crystal length is investigated. The dependence of the crystal radius on its length at various ratios of fluxes of elements of groups III and V is analyzed theoretically. Various growth regimes (specifically, the regime of radius selffocusing and droplet disappearance) are examined. The calculations for crystals of a small radius are performed with the Gibbs–Thomson effect taken into account.