Xu et al. Nanoscale Research Letters 2011, 6:113 http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/6/1/113 France 2CNRS-Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures, Route de Nozay, 91460 Marcoussis, France Authors’ contributions TX, JPN, BG designed the experiments, TX,JS,JPN performed the experiments, GP performed the TEM analyses, BG wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Received: 20 September 2010 Accepted: 2 February 2011 Published: 2 February 2011 References 1. Park W II, Zheng G, Jiang X, Tian B, Lieber CM: Controlled synthesis of millimeter-long silicon nanowires with uniform electronic properties. Nano Lett 2008, 8:3004. 2. Plante MC, LaPierre RR: Growth mechanisms of GaAs nanowires by gas source molecular beam epitaxy. J Cryst Growth 2006, 286:394. 3. Dubrovskii VG, Cirlin GE, Soshnikov IP, Tonkikh AA, Sibirev NV, Samsonenko YB, Ustinov YB: Diffusion-induced growth of GaAs nanowhiskers during molecular beam epitaxy: Theory and experiment. Phys Rev B 2005, 71:205325. 4. Schubert L, Werner P, Zakharov ND, Gerth G, Kolb FM, Long L, Gösele U, Tan TY: Silicon nanowhiskers grown on (111) Si substrates by molecular- beam epitaxy. Appl Phys Lett 2004, 84:4968. 5. Dujardin R, Poydenot V, Devillers T, Favre-Nicolin V, Gentile P, Barski A: Growth mechanism of Si nanowhiskers and SiGe heterostructures in Si nanowhiskers: X-ray scattering and electron microscopy investigations. Appl Phys Lett 2006, 89:153129. 6. Xu T, Nys JP, Grandidier B, Stiévenard D, Coffinier Y, Boukherroub R, Larde R, Cadel E, Pareige P: Growth of Si nanowires on micropillars for the study of their dopant distribution by atom probe tomography. J Vac Sci Technol B 2008, 26:1960. 7. Kramer A, Albrecht M, Boeck T, Remmele T, Schramm P, Fornari R: Self- assembled and ordered growth of silicon and germanium nanowires. Superlatt Microsctruct 2009, 46:277. 8. Irrera A, Pecora EF, Priolo F: Control of growth mechanisms and orientation in epitaxial Si nanowires grown by electron beam evaporation. Nanotechnology 2009, 20:135601. 9. Werner P, Zakharov ND, Gerth G, Schubert L, Gösele U: On the formation of Si nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy. Int J Mater Res 2006, 97:1008. 10. Ross FM, Tersoff J, Reuter MC: Sawtooth Faceting in Silicon Nanowires. Phys Rev Lett 2005, 95:146104. 11. Hannon JB, Kodambaka S, Ross F, Tromp RM: The influence of the surface migration of gold on the growth of silicon nanowires. Nature 2006, 440:69. 12. Den Hertog M, Rouvière JL, Dhalluin F, Desré PJ, Gentile P, Ferret P, Oehler F, Baron T: Control of gold surface diffusion on Si nanowires. Nano Lett 2008, 8:1544. 13. Wiethoff C, Ross FM, Copel M, Horn-von Hoegen M, Meyer zu Heringdorf F- J: Au Stabilization and Coverage of Sawtooth Facets on Si Nanowires Grown by Vapor- Liquid- Solid Epitaxy. Nano Lett 2008, 8:3065. 14. Xu T, Nys JP, Addad A, Lebedev OI, Urbieta A, Salhi B, Berthe M, Grandidier B, Stiévenard D: Faceted sidewalls of silicon nanowires: Au- induced structural reconstructions and electronic properties. Phys Rev B 2010, 81:115403. 15. Wu Y, Cui Y, Huynh L, Barrelet CJ, Bell DC, Lieber CM: Controlled growth and structures of molecular-scale silicon nanowires. Nano Lett 2004, 4:433. 16. Hanrath T, Korgel BA: Crystallography and surface faceting of germanium nanowires. Small 2005, 1:717. 17. Nagao T, Hasegawa S, Tsuchie K, Ino S, Voges C, Klos G, Pfnür H, Henzler M: Structural phase transitions of Si (111)-(√3 × √3) R30°-Au: Phase transitions in domain-wall configurations. Phys Rev B 1998, 57:10100. 18. Grozea D, Bengu E, Marks LD: Surface phase diagrams for the Ag-Ge (111) and Au-Si (111) systems. Surf Sci 2000, 461:23. 19. Seehofer L, Johnson RL: STM study of gold on Ge (111). Surf Sci 1994, 318:21. Page 7 of 7 20. Johansson J, Svensson CPT, Mårtensson T, Samuelson L, Seifert W: Mass transport model for semiconductor nanowire growth. J Chem Phys 2005, 109:13567. 21. Gomer R: Diffusion of adsorbates on metal surfaces. Rep Prog Phys 1990, 53:917. 22. Mo YW, Lagally MG: Anisotropy in surface migration of Si and Ge on Si (001). Surf Sci 1991, 248:313. 23. Zhang JM, Ma F, Xu KW, Xin XT: Anisotropy analysis of the surface energy of diamond cubic crystals. Surf Interface Anal 2003, 35:805. doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-113 Cite this article as: Xu et al.: Synthesis of long group IV semiconductor nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy. Nanoscale Research Letters 2011 6:113. Submit your manuscript to a journal and beneﬁt from: 7 Convenient online submission 7 Rigorous peer review 7 Immediate publication on acceptance 7 Open access: articles freely available online 7 High visibility within the ﬁeld 7 Retaining the copyright to your article Submit your next manuscript at 7 springeropen.com