Selected area growth of II–VI nanostructures using shadow masks

We investigate molecular beam epitaxy of II-VI materials through GaAs/AlGaAs epitaxial shadow masks on GaAs(001) substrate. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopy are employed to investigate the effects of surface diffusion, faceting, partial shadow (minimized in the experimental set-up), and material deposition on the mask (closing of apertures) on the selected area growth of ZnSe and CdSe. The results illustrate that selected area growth of II-VI nanostructures is controlled by the growth geometry. In contrast to the case of III-V materials, we found no macroscopic features (>10 nm) which could be attributed to surface diffusion. (C) 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.