Flat top formation in self-assisted GaAs nanowires

We identified the growth conditions which lead to the formation of a flat top facet in GaAs nanowires, grown by the self-assisted method in molecular beam epitaxy. Low arsenic overpressure, intermediate temperature and relatively long annealing time are needed to transform the Ga droplets present at the top of the nanowires into a flat GaAs segment. This result opens the possibility to realize atomically sharp heterointerfaces in this type of semiconductor nanowires.