The role of surface tension in the growth of strained quantum wire arrays^a)

The critical radius of a strained quantum wire and the potential strain stabilization of quantum wire arrays has been investigated for the In_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs system. The critical radius of the quantum wire was calculated using an energy balance approach. The wire was found to be more stable than the corresponding two-dimensional quantum well structure. The use of surface tension as a stabilization force during the growth of strained quantum wire arrays is expected to have beneficial effects for arrays with greater than 7% InAs.