Kinetic model of the growth of nanodimensional whiskers by the vapor-liquid-crystal mechanism

A new kinetic model describing the growth of nanodimensional whiskers according to the vapor-liquid-crystal (VLC) mechanism is proposed. A self-consistent equation determining the whisker growth rate as a function of the liquid drop radius and the growth conditions is obtained. A manifold increase in the growth rate on the drop containing an activating substance as compared to the case of growth on the nonactivated crystal surface is explained. The proposed approach generalizes the phenomenological Givargizov-Chernov model and allows the functional form and the kinetic coefficients in the dependence of the growth rate on the control and energy parameters to be determined. The results of numerical calculations of the whisker growth rate as a function of the drop radius for various growth conditions are presented and compared to experimental data on the growth of nanodimensional GaAs whiskers on gold-activated GaAs(111)B surface. (C) 2004 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".