Mechanisms of ring and island formation in lattice mismatched droplet epitaxy

Lattice mismatched GaSb nanostructures were grown using droplet epitaxy. In this method, liquid Ga droplets are deposited on GaAs substrates and then exposed to a Sb flux at various temperatures. At increasing temperature and droplet volumes, the morphologies changed from two-dimensional islands to nanoholes, three-dimensional islands, rings, and clusters of islands. A theoretical model describes the relationship between the volume of the droplet and the final nanostructure, and is validated by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The combined experimental and simulation results demonstrate another process to obtain complex nanostructures, widening the design window for devices.