Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
We have used in-situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to study the formation and evolution of InAs islands on an InP (001) surface. The InAs islands are produced by (i) exchange of P-atoms with As-atoms or by (ii) direct deposition of In and As. In both cases InAs nanowires arem elongated along the [ī 10] direction with a length over 1 µm. We observe these nanowires to be stable under an arsenic environment while unstable with no arsenic flux, and eventually transform into a rectangular-based pyramid with a truncated top. These observations indicate that surface reconstruction can play a role in the selection of quantum wire or dot growth.