Compositional trends in III-V ternary nanowires grown by the vapor-liquid-solid method were extensively studied over the past decade. Conversely, the wurtzite-zincblende polytypism was investigated mainly for binary III-V nanowires. The crystal phase changes in III-V ternary nanowires and even the key parameters determining the preferred crystal structure of such nanowires remain largely unknown. Here, we try to fill the gap by presenting a model for the crystal phase in vapor-liquid-solid III-V ternary nanowires based on the surface energy analysis. Our approach is based on the known phase diagram of GaAs nanowires, and allows one to identify the crystal phase as a function of the droplet contact angle and composition. We show a qualitative trend agreement of the phase diagrams with the available experimental data on InₗGa₁-ₗAs, AlₗGa₁-ₗAs, and GaPₗAs₁-ₗ nanowires. We also discuss the general crystal phase trends and the remaining uncertainties that should be circumvented to enable the full description and compositional control of these complex growth systems.
В. Г. Дубровский (Thu,) studied this question.