Growth modeling of CdTe nanowires

Au-catalyzed CdTe nanowires have been grown by close-space sublimation on Mo foils via the vapor-liquid-solid technique. Nanowire length (up to 25 μm) increased as a function of growth temperature and time. Nanowire average radius only started to increase after 20 min of growth. A model has been developed to quantitatively describe this observed growth behavior. The model takes into account the simultaneous lateral extension of nanowires (radii were in the range 150-550 nm), observed for longer growth times. Fitting the model to the experimental data yields a number of kinetic parameters. More importantly, the threshold character of the radius-time dependence as well as the essentially non-linear shape of the length-time relationship is well reproduced by the model.