Epitaxial growth of aligned GaN nanowires and nanobridges

Abstract Homo‐epitaxialy grown aligned GaN nanowires were prepared on crystalline GaN mesas. The GaN nanowires showed preferential growth along the 〈10 $ \bar 1 $ 0〉 direction ( m ‐axis direction). By using selectively positioned and crystallographically well defined GaN epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) mesas as substrate, we obtained horizontally aligned GaN nanowires, in comb‐like arrays and hexagonal network interconnecting the ELO mesas. Preliminary testing of the nanomechanical behavior of horizontal nanowires is reported. Combination of ELO with nanowire synthesis is expected to provide a new paradigm for nano‐electronic and electromechanical devices. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)