Edge-induced excitations in Bi2Te3 from spatially-resolved electron energy-gain spectroscopy.

Among the many potential applications of topological insulator materials, their broad potential for the development of novel tunable plasmonics at THz and mid-infrared frequencies for quantum computing, terahertz detectors, and spintronic devices is particularly attractive. The required understanding of the intricate relationship between nanoscale crystal structure and the properties of the resulting plasmonic resonances remains, however, elusive for these materials. Specifically, edge- and surface-induced plasmonic resonances, and other collective excitations, are often buried beneath the continuum of electronic transitions, making it difficult to isolate and interpret these signals using techniques such as electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). Here we focus on the experimentally clean energy-gain EELS region to characterise collective excitations in the topologically insulating material Bi2Te3 and correlate them with the underlying crystalline structure with nanoscale resolution. We identify with high significance the presence of a distinct energy-gain peak around -0.8eV, with spatially-resolved maps revealing that its intensity is markedly enhanced at the edge regions of the specimen. Our findings illustrate the reach of energy-gain EELS analyses to accurately map collective excitations in quantum materials, a key asset in the quest towards new tunable plasmonic devices.

First-Principles Calculation of Optoelectronic Properties in 2D Materials: The Polytypic WS2 Case.

The phenomenon of polytypism, namely unconventional crystal phases displaying a mixture of stacking sequences, represents a powerful handle to design and engineer novel physical properties in two-dimensional (2D) materials. In this work, we characterize from first-principles the optoelectronic properties associated with the 2H/3R polytypism occurring in WS2 nanomaterials by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We evaluate the band gap, optical response, and energy-loss function associated with 2H/3R WS2 nanomaterials and compare our predictions with experimental measurements of electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) carried out in nanostructures exhibiting the same polytypism. Our results provide further input to the ongoing efforts toward the integration of polytypic 2D materials into functional devices.

Spatially Resolved Band Gap and Dielectric Function in Two-Dimensional Materials from Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy.

The electronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials depend sensitively on the underlying atomic arrangement down to the monolayer level. Here we present a novel strategy for the determination of the band gap and complex dielectric function in 2D materials achieving a spatial resolution down to a few nanometers. This approach is based on machine learning techniques developed in particle physics and makes possible the automated processing and interpretation of spectral images from electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Individual spectra are classified as a function of the thickness with K-means clustering, and then used to train a deep-learning model of the zero-loss peak background. As a proof of concept we assess the band gap and dielectric function of InSe flakes and polytypic WS2 nanoflowers and correlate these electrical properties with the local thickness. Our flexible approach is generalizable to other nanostructured materials and to higher-dimensional spectroscopies and is made available as a new release of the open-source EELSfitter framework.

Morphology-induced spectral modification of self-assembled WS2 pyramids.

Due to their intriguing optical properties, including stable and chiral excitons, two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D-TMDs) hold the promise of applications in nanophotonics. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques offer a platform to fabricate and design nanostructures with diverse geometries. However, the more exotic the grown nanogeometry, the less is known about its optical response. WS2 nanostructures with geometries ranging from monolayers to hollow pyramids have been created. The hollow pyramids exhibit a strongly reduced photoluminescence with respect to horizontally layered tungsten disulphide, facilitating the study of their clear Raman signal in more detail. Excited resonantly, the hollow pyramids exhibit a great number of higher-order phononic resonances. In contrast to monolayers, the spectral features of the optical response of the pyramids are position dependent. Differences in peak intensity, peak ratio and spectral peak positions reveal local variations in the atomic arrangement of the hollow pyramid crater and sides. The position-dependent optical response of hollow WS2 pyramids is characterized and attributed to growth-induced nanogeometry. Thereby the first steps are taken towards producing tunable nanophotonic devices with applications ranging from opto-electronics to non-linear optics.

Charting the low-loss region in electron energy loss spectroscopy with machine learning.

Exploiting the information provided by electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) requires reliable access to the low-loss region where the zero-loss peak (ZLP) often overwhelms the contributions associated to inelastic scatterings off the specimen. Here we deploy machine learning techniques developed in particle physics to realise a model-independent, multidimensional determination of the ZLP with a faithful uncertainty estimate. This novel method is then applied to subtract the ZLP for EEL spectra acquired in flower-like WS2 nanostructures characterised by a 2H/3R mixed polytypism. From the resulting subtracted spectra we determine the nature and value of the bandgap of polytypic WS2, finding EBG=1.6-0.2+0.3eV with a clear preference for an indirect bandgap. Further, we demonstrate how this method enables us to robustly identify excitonic transitions down to very small energy losses. Our approach has been implemented and made available in an open source Python package dubbed EELSfitter.

Lock-in Ultrafast Electron Microscopy Simultaneously Visualizes Carrier Recombination and Interface-Mediated Trapping.

Visualizing charge carrier flow over interfaces or near surfaces meets great challenges concerning resolution and vastly different time scales of bulk and surface dynamics. Ultrafast or four-dimensional scanning electron microscopy (USEM) using a laser pump electron probe scheme circumvents the optical diffraction limit, but disentangling surface-mediated trapping and ultrafast carrier dynamics in a single measurement scheme has not yet been demonstrated. Here, we present lock-in USEM, which simultaneously visualizes fast bulk recombination and slow trapping. As a proof of concept, we show that the surface termination on GaAs, i.e., Ga or As, profoundly influences ultrafast movies. We demonstrate the differences can be attributed to trapping-induced surface voltages of approximately 100-200 mV, which is further supported by secondary electron particle tracing calculations. The simultaneous visualization of both competing processes opens new perspectives for studying carrier transport in layered, nanostructured, and two-dimensional semiconductors, where carrier trapping constitutes a major bottleneck for device efficiency.

Robust Sample Preparation of Large-Area In- and Out-of-Plane Cross Sections of Layered Materials with Ultramicrotomy.

Layered materials (LMs) such as graphene or MoS2 have attracted a great deal of interest recently. These materials offer unique functionalities due to their structural anisotropy characterized by weak van der Waals bonds along the out-of-plane axis and covalent bonds in the in-plane direction. A central requirement to access the structural information on complex nanostructures built upon LMs is to control the relative orientation of each sample prior to their inspection, e.g., with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). However, developing sample preparation methods that result in large inspection areas and ensure full control over the sample orientation while avoiding damage during the transfer to the TEM grid is challenging. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of deploying ultramicrotomy for the preparation of LM samples in TEM analyses. We show how ultramicrotomy leads to the reproducible large-scale production of both in-plane and out-of-plane cross sections, with bulk vertically oriented MoS2 and WS2 nanosheets as a proof of concept. The robustness of the prepared samples is subsequently verified by their characterization by means of both high-resolution TEM and Raman spectroscopy measurements. Our approach is fully general and should find applications for a wide range of materials as well as of techniques beyond TEM, thus paving the way to the systematic large-area mass-production of cross-sectional specimens for structural and compositional studies.

Metallic edge states in zig-zag vertically-oriented MoS2 nanowalls.

The remarkable properties of layered materials such as MoS2 strongly depend on their dimensionality. Beyond manipulating their dimensions, it has been predicted that the electronic properties of MoS2 can also be tailored by carefully selecting the type of edge sites exposed. However, achieving full control over the type of exposed edge sites while simultaneously modifying the dimensionality of the nanostructures is highly challenging. Here we adopt a top-down approach based on focus ion beam in order to selectively pattern the exposed edge sites. This strategy allows us to select either the armchair (AC) or the zig-zag (ZZ) edges in the MoS2 nanostructures, as confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements. The edge-type dependence of the local electronic properties in these MoS2 nanostructures is studied by means of electron energy-loss spectroscopy measurements. This way, we demonstrate that the ZZ-MoS2 nanostructures exhibit clear fingerprints of their predicted metallic character. Our results pave the way towards novel approaches for the design and fabrication of more complex nanostructures based on MoS2 and related layered materials for applications in fields such as electronics, optoelectronics, photovoltaics, and photocatalysts.

Strain-Dependent Edge Structures in MoS2 Layers.

Edge structures are low-dimensional defects unavoidable in layered materials of the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) family. Among the various types of such structures, the armchair (AC) and zigzag (ZZ) edge types are the most common. It has been predicted that the presence of intrinsic strain localized along these edges structures can have direct implications for the customization of their electronic properties. However, pinning down the relation between local structure and electronic properties at these edges is challenging. Here, we quantify the local strain field that arises at the edges of MoS2 flakes by combining aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with the geometrical-phase analysis (GPA) method. We also provide further insight on the possible effects of such edge strain on the resulting electronic behavior by means of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) measurements. Our results reveal that the two-dominant edge structures, ZZ and AC, induce the formation of different amounts of localized strain fields. We also show that by varying the free edge curvature from concave to convex, compressive strain turns into tensile strain. These results pave the way toward the customization of edge structures in MoS2, which can be used to engineer the properties of layered materials and thus contribute to the optimization of the next generation of atomic-scale electronic devices built upon them.

Observation of Conductance Quantization in InSb Nanowire Networks.

Majorana zero modes (MZMs) are prime candidates for robust topological quantum bits, holding a great promise for quantum computing. Semiconducting nanowires with strong spin orbit coupling offer a promising platform to harness one-dimensional electron transport for Majorana physics. Demonstrating the topological nature of MZMs relies on braiding, accomplished by moving MZMs around each other in a certain sequence. Most of the proposed Majorana braiding circuits require nanowire networks with minimal disorder. Here, the electronic transport across a junction between two merged InSb nanowires is studied to investigate how disordered these nanowire networks are. Conductance quantization plateaus are observed in most of the contact pairs of the epitaxial InSb nanowire networks: the hallmark of ballistic transport behavior.

Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires.

Semiconductor nanowires have opened new research avenues in quantum transport owing to their confined geometry and electrostatic tunability. They have offered an exceptional testbed for superconductivity, leading to the realization of hybrid systems combining the macroscopic quantum properties of superconductors with the possibility to control charges down to a single electron. These advances brought semiconductor nanowires to the forefront of efforts to realize topological superconductivity and Majorana modes. A prime challenge to benefit from the topological properties of Majoranas is to reduce the disorder in hybrid nanowire devices. Here we show ballistic superconductivity in InSb semiconductor nanowires. Our structural and chemical analyses demonstrate a high-quality interface between the nanowire and a NbTiN superconductor that enables ballistic transport. This is manifested by a quantized conductance for normal carriers, a strongly enhanced conductance for Andreev-reflecting carriers, and an induced hard gap with a significantly reduced density of states. These results pave the way for disorder-free Majorana devices.

Towards higher electron mobility in modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs core shell nanowires.

Precise control over the electrical conductivity of semiconductor nanowires is a crucial prerequisite for implementation of these nanostructures into novel electronic and optoelectronic devices. Advances in our understanding of doping mechanisms in nanowires and their influence on electron mobility and radiative efficiency are urgently required. Here, we investigate the electronic properties of n-type modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs nanowires via optical pump terahertz (THz) probe spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy over the temperature range 5 K-300 K. We directly determine an ionization energy of 6.7 ± 0.5 meV (T = 52 K) for the Si donors within the AlGaAs shell that create the modulation doping structure. We further elucidate the temperature dependence of the electron mobility, photoconductivity lifetime and radiative efficiency, and determine the charge-carrier scattering mechanisms that limit electron mobility. We show that below the donor ionization temperature, charge scattering is limited by interactions with interfaces, leading to an excellent electron mobility of 4360 ± 380 cm2 V-1 s-1 at 5 K. Above the ionization temperature, polar scattering via longitudinal optical (LO) phonons dominates, leading to a room temperature mobility of 2220 ± 130 cm2 V-1 s-1. In addition, we show that the Si donors effectively passivate interfacial trap states in the nanowires, leading to prolonged photoconductivity lifetimes with increasing temperature, accompanied by an enhanced radiative efficiency that exceeds 10% at room temperature.

Hard Superconducting Gap in InSb Nanowires.

Topological superconductivity is a state of matter that can host Majorana modes, the building blocks of a topological quantum computer. Many experimental platforms predicted to show such a topological state rely on proximity-induced superconductivity. However, accessing the topological properties requires an induced hard superconducting gap, which is challenging to achieve for most material systems. We have systematically studied how the interface between an InSb semiconductor nanowire and a NbTiN superconductor affects the induced superconducting properties. Step by step, we improve the homogeneity of the interface while ensuring a barrier-free electrical contact to the superconductor and obtain a hard gap in the InSb nanowire. The magnetic field stability of NbTiN allows the InSb nanowire to maintain a hard gap and a supercurrent in the presence of magnetic fields (∼0.5 T), a requirement for topological superconductivity in one-dimensional systems. Our study provides a guideline to induce superconductivity in various experimental platforms such as semiconductor nanowires, two-dimensional electron gases, and topological insulators and holds relevance for topological superconductivity and quantum computation.

InSb Nanowires with Built-In GaxIn1-xSb Tunnel Barriers for Majorana Devices.

Majorana zero modes (MZMs), prime candidates for topological quantum bits, are detected as zero bias conductance peaks (ZBPs) in tunneling spectroscopy measurements. Implementation of a narrow and high tunnel barrier in the next generation of Majorana devices can help to achieve the theoretically predicted quantized height of the ZBP. We propose a material-oriented approach to engineer a sharp and narrow tunnel barrier by synthesizing a thin axial segment of GaxIn1-xSb within an InSb nanowire. By varying the precursor molar fraction and the growth time, we accurately control the composition and the length of the barriers. The height and the width of the GaxIn1-xSb tunnel barrier are extracted from the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) fits to the experimental I-V traces.

Single-Crystalline Hexagonal Silicon-Germanium.

Group IV materials with the hexagonal diamond crystal structure have been predicted to exhibit promising optical and electronic properties. In particular, hexagonal silicon-germanium (Si1-xGex) should be characterized by a tunable direct band gap with implications ranging from Si-based light-emitting diodes to lasers and quantum dots for single photon emitters. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of high-quality defect-free and wafer-scale hexagonal Si1-xGex growth with precise control of the alloy composition and layer thickness. This is achieved by transferring the hexagonal phase from a GaP/Si core/shell nanowire template, the same method successfully employed by us to realize hexagonal Si. We determine the optimal growth conditions in order to achieve single-crystalline layer-by-layer Si1-xGex growth in the preferred stoichiometry region. Our results pave the way for exploiting the novel properties of hexagonal Si1-xGex alloys in technological applications.

Synthesis, Morphological, and Electro-optical Characterizations of Metal/Semiconductor Nanowire Heterostructures.

In this letter, we demonstrate the formation of unique Ga/GaAs/Si nanowire heterostructures, which were successfully implemented in nanoscale light-emitting devices with visible room temperature electroluminescence. Based on our recent approach for the integration of InAs/Si heterostructures into Si nanowires by ion implantation and flash lamp annealing, we developed a routine that has proven to be suitable for the monolithic integration of GaAs nanocrystallite segments into the core of silicon nanowires. The formation of a Ga segment adjacent to longer GaAs nanocrystallites resulted in Schottky-diode-like I/V characteristics with distinct electroluminescence originating from the GaAs nanocrystallite for the nanowire device operated in the reverse breakdown regime. The observed electroluminescence was ascribed to radiative band-to-band recombinations resulting in distinct emission peaks and a low contribution due to intraband transition, which were also observed under forward bias. Simulations of the obtained nanowire heterostructure confirmed the proposed impact ionization process responsible for hot carrier luminescence. This approach may enable a new route for on-chip photonic devices used for light emission or detection purposes.

Low ensemble disorder in quantum well tube nanowires.

We have observed very low disorder in high quality quantum well tubes (QWT) in GaAs-Al(0.4)Ga(0.6)As core-multishell nanowires. Room-temperature photoluminescence spectra were measured from 150 single nanowires enabling a full statistical analysis of both intra- and inter-nanowire disorder. By modelling individual nanowire spectra, we assigned a quantum well tube thickness, a core disorder parameter and a QWT disorder parameter to each nanowire. A strong correlation was observed between disorder in the GaAs cores and disorder in the GaAs QWTs, which indicates that variations in core morphology effectively propagate to the shell layers. This highlights the importance of high quality core growth prior to shell deposition. Furthermore, variations in QWT thicknesses for different facet directions was found to be a likely cause of intra-wire disorder, highlighting the need for accurate shell growth.

Hexagonal Silicon Realized.

Silicon, arguably the most important technological semiconductor, is predicted to exhibit a range of new and interesting properties when grown in the hexagonal crystal structure. To obtain pure hexagonal silicon is a great challenge because it naturally crystallizes in the cubic structure. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of pure and stable hexagonal silicon evidenced by structural characterization. In our approach, we transfer the hexagonal crystal structure from a template hexagonal gallium phosphide nanowire to an epitaxially grown silicon shell, such that hexagonal silicon is formed. The typical ABABAB... stacking of the hexagonal structure is shown by aberration-corrected imaging in transmission electron microscopy. In addition, X-ray diffraction measurements show the high crystalline purity of the material. We show that this material is stable up to 9 GPa pressure. With this development, we open the way for exploring its optical, electrical, superconducting, and mechanical properties.

High Yield of GaAs Nanowire Arrays on Si Mediated by the Pinning and Contact Angle of Ga.

GaAs nanowire arrays on silicon offer great perspectives in the optoelectronics and solar cell industry. To fulfill this potential, gold-free growth in predetermined positions should be achieved. Ga-assisted growth of GaAs nanowires in the form of array has been shown to be challenging and difficult to reproduce. In this work, we provide some of the key elements for obtaining a high yield of GaAs nanowires on patterned Si in a reproducible way: contact angle and pinning of the Ga droplet inside the apertures achieved by the modification of the surface properties of the nanoscale areas exposed to growth. As an example, an amorphous silicon layer between the crystalline substrate and the oxide mask results in a contact angle around 90°, leading to a high yield of vertical nanowires. Another example for tuning the contact angle is anticipated, native oxide with controlled thickness. This work opens new perspectives for the rational and reproducible growth of GaAs nanowire arrays on silicon.

Modulation doping of GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires with effective defect passivation and high electron mobility.

Reliable doping is required to realize many devices based on semiconductor nanowires. Group III-V nanowires show great promise as elements of high-speed optoelectronic devices, but for such applications it is important that the electron mobility is not compromised by the inclusion of dopants. Here we show that GaAs nanowires can be n-type doped with negligible loss of electron mobility. Molecular beam epitaxy was used to fabricate modulation-doped GaAs nanowires with Al0.33Ga0.67As shells that contained a layer of Si dopants. We identify the presence of the doped layer from a high-angle annular dark field scanning electron microscopy cross-section image. The doping density, carrier mobility, and charge carrier lifetimes of these n-type nanowires and nominally undoped reference samples were determined using the noncontact method of optical pump terahertz probe spectroscopy. An n-type extrinsic carrier concentration of 1.10 ± 0.06 × 10(16) cm(-3) was extracted, demonstrating the effectiveness of modulation doping in GaAs nanowires. The room-temperature electron mobility was also found to be high at 2200 ± 300 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and importantly minimal degradation was observed compared with undoped reference nanowires at similar electron densities. In addition, modulation doping significantly enhanced the room-temperature photoconductivity and photoluminescence lifetimes to 3.9 ± 0.3 and 2.4 ± 0.1 ns respectively, revealing that modulation doping can passivate interfacial trap states.