Fabrication of nanowire growth templates by forming pinholes in SiOx on Si

Summary form only given. InAs nanowire growth is carried out on a thin grainy layer of SiO _x on Si (111), utilizing the openings of pinholes in the SiO _x layer by isotropic wet etching. SiO _x layers with different initial thicknesses were deposited and etched down to different thicknesses, to investigate the influence of the initial layer roughness and the etching depth on the formation of pinholes and thereafter the nanowire growth.