it could be with any deposition techniques. our GaAs NWs have average diameter of 200 nm and they are grown by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy. we used electron beam to deposit gold namely 10-40 nm thick.
Can you kindly tell us the details of the growth template of Au. It means, how the GaAs nanowires are oriented (some representative image) and how they have been grown.
In general, Molecular beam epiraxy (MBE) under UHV condition is a delegate and suitable method for growth of Au thin film (with precise flux rate an thickness). But other methods would be useful according your aim of the experiment.