Polarity and growth directions in Sn-seeded GaSb nanowires.

We here investigate the growth mechanism of Sn-seeded GaSb nanowires and demonstrate how the seed particle and its dynamics at the growth interface of the nanowire determine the polarity, as well as the formation of structural defects. We use aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging methodologies to study the interrelationship between the structural properties, i.e. polarity, growth mechanism, and formation of inclined twin boundaries in pairs. Moreover, the optical properties of the Sn-seeded GaSb nanowires are examined. Their photoluminescence response is compared with one of their Au-seeded counterparts, suggesting the incorporation of Sn atoms from the seed particles into the nanowires.

Can antimonide-based nanowires form wurtzite crystal structure?

The epitaxial growth of antimonide-based nanowires has become an attractive subject due to their interesting properties required for various applications such as long-wavelength IR detectors. The studies conducted on antimonide-based nanowires indicate that they preferentially crystallize in the zinc blende (ZB) crystal structure rather than wurtzite (WZ), which is common in other III-V nanowire materials. Also, with the addition of small amounts of antimony to arsenide- and phosphide-based nanowires grown under conditions otherwise leading to WZ structure, the crystal structure of the resulting ternary nanowires favors the ZB phase. Therefore, the formation of antimonide-based nanowires with the WZ phase presents fundamental challenges and is yet to be explored, but is particularly interesting for understanding the nanowire crystal phase in general. In this study, we examine the formation of Au-seeded InSb and GaSb nanowires under various growth conditions using metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. We address the possibility of forming other phases than ZB such as WZ and 4H in binary nanowires and demonstrate the controlled formation of WZ InSb nanowires. We further discuss the fundamental aspects of WZ growth in Au-seeded antimonide-based nanowires.

Electrical and Surface Properties of InAs/InSb Nanowires Cleaned by Atomic Hydrogen.

We present a study of InAs/InSb heterostructured nanowires by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and in-vacuum electrical measurements. Starting with pristine nanowires covered only by the native oxide formed through exposure to ambient air, we investigate the effect of atomic hydrogen cleaning on the surface chemistry and electrical performance. We find that clean and unreconstructed nanowire surfaces can be obtained simultaneously for both InSb and InAs by heating to 380 ± 20 °C under an H2 pressure 2 × 10(-6) mbar. Through electrical measurement of individual nanowires, we observe an increase in conductivity of 2 orders of magnitude by atomic hydrogen cleaning, which we relate through theoretical simulation to the contact-nanowire junction and nanowire surface Fermi level pinning. Our study demonstrates the significant potential of atomic hydrogen cleaning regarding device fabrication when high quality contacts or complete control of the surface structure is required. As hydrogen cleaning has recently been shown to work for many different types of III-V nanowires, our findings should be applicable far beyond the present materials system.

Demonstration of defect-free and composition tunable GaxIn1-xSb nanowires.

The Ga(x)In(1-x)Sb ternary system has many interesting material properties, such as high carrier mobilities and a tunable range of bandgaps in the infrared. Here we present the first report on the growth and compositional control of Ga(x)In(1-x)Sb material grown in the form of nanowires from Au seeded nanoparticles by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The composition of the grown Ga(x)In(1-x)Sb nanowires is precisely controlled by tuning the growth parameters where x varies from 1 to ∼0.3. Interestingly, the growth rate of the Ga(x)In(1-x)Sb nanowires increases with diameter, which we model based on the Gibbs-Thomson effect. Nanowire morphology can be tuned from high to very low aspect ratios, with perfect zinc blende crystal structure regardless of composition. Finally, electrical characterization on nanowire material with a composition of Ga(0.6)In(0.4)Sb showed clear p-type behavior.

Growth of InAs/InP core-shell nanowires with various pure crystal structures.

We have studied the epitaxial growth of an InP shell on various pure InAs core nanowire crystal structures by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. The InP shell is grown on wurtzite (WZ), zinc-blende (ZB), and {111}- and {110}-type faceted ZB twin-plane superlattice (TSL) structures by tuning the InP shell growth parameters and controlling the shell thickness. The growth results, particularly on the WZ nanowires, show that homogeneous InP shell growth is promoted at relatively high temperatures (∼500 °C), but that the InAs nanowires decompose under the applied conditions. In order to protect the InAs core nanowires from decomposition, a short protective InP segment is first grown axially at lower temperatures (420-460 °C), before commencing the radial growth at a higher temperature. Further studies revealed that the InP radial growth rate is significantly higher on the ZB and TSL nanowires compared to WZ counterparts, and shows a strong anisotropy in polar directions. As a result, thin shells were obtained during low temperature InP growth on ZB structures, while a higher temperature was used to obtain uniform thick shells. In addition, a schematic growth model is suggested to explain the basic processes occurring during the shell growth on the TSL crystal structures.