TEM Study of the Structural Properties of Nanowires Based on Cd, Zn, Te grown by MBE on Silicon Substrates

In this work we report on the atomic structures, elemental distribution, defects and dislocations of three types of semiconductor nanowires: ZnTe, CdTe, and complex ZnTe/(Cd,Zn)Te core/shell hetero-nanowires grown by a molecular beam epitaxy on (111) Si substrate using a vapor-liquid-solid mechanism. The structural properties and the chemical gradients were measured by transmission electron microscopy methods. The nanowires reveal mainly sphalerite structure, however wurtzite nanowires were also observed.