Effects of Au catalyst on GaAs (111) B surface during annealing

To understand the growth mechanism and the effect of catalysts in growing III–V epitaxial nanowires, GaAs (111) B substrates with Au thin films were annealed in a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system. Scanning/transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM) investigations indicate that, during annealing, the Au catalysts were formed and affect significantly the surface morphology of the GaAs substrates.