Saujan's manuscript accepted to Nano Letters

Congratulations to Dr. Saujan Sivaram, the lead author on a manuscript titled "Surface Hydrogen Enables Sub-Eutectic Vapor-Liquid-Solid Semiconductor Nanowire Growth" that was recently accepted to the journal Nano Letters. Along with collaborators Ho Yee Hui, Dr. Maria de la Mata, and Prof. Jordi Arbiol, he showed that nanowire growth while the catalyst droplet is in a sub-cooled liquid state, a widely observed behavior, results from the presence of surface adsorbates that decorate the nanowire sidewall. These species act as a diffusion barrier, preventing the droplet from finding a low-barrier nucleation site. More generally, the ability of surface adsorbates to arbitrate the diffusion of species to/from the catalyst droplet opens new opportunities to choreograph nanowire growth, structure, and function.

Illustration of hydrogen desorption and subsequent catalyst droplet solidification. 

Illustration of hydrogen desorption and subsequent catalyst droplet solidification.