Heterostructure axial GaAsSb ensemble near-infrared p-i-n based axial configured nanowire photodetectors.

In this work, we present a systematic design of growth experiments and subsequent characterization of self-catalyzed molecular beam epitaxially grown GaAsSb heterostructure axial p-i-n nanowires (NWs) on p-Si <111> for the ensemble photodetector (PD) application in the near-infrared region. Diverse growth methods have been explored to gain a better insight into mitigating several growth challenges by systematically studying their impact on the NW electrical and optical properties to realize a high-quality p-i-n heterostructure. The successful growth approaches are Te-dopant compensation to suppress the p-type nature of intrinsic GaAsSb segment, growth interruption for strain relaxation at the interface, decreased substrate temperature to enhance supersaturation and minimize the reservoir effect, higher bandgap compositions of the n-segment of the heterostructure relative to the intrinsic region for boosting the absorption, and the high-temperature ultra-high vacuumin situannealing to reduce the parasitic radial overgrowth. The efficacy of these methods is supported by enhanced photoluminescence (PL) emission, suppressed dark current in the heterostructure p-i-n NWs accompanied by increased rectification ratio, photosensitivity, and a reduced low-frequency noise level. The PD fabricated utilizing the optimized GaAsSb axial p-i-n NWs exhibited the longer wavelength cutoff at ∼1.1µm with a significantly higher responsivity of ∼120 A W-1(@-3 V bias) and a detectivity of 1.1 × 1013Jones operating at room temperature. Frequency and the bias independent capacitance in the pico-Farad (pF) range and substantially lower noise level at the reverse biased condition, show the prospects of p-i-n GaAsSb NWs PD for high-speed optoelectronic applications.

Passivation efficacy study of Al2O3dielectric on self-catalyzed molecular beam epitaxially grown GaAs1-xSbxnanowires.

This work evaluates the passivation efficacy of thermal atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al2O3dielectric layer on self-catalyzed GaAs1-xSbxnanowires (NWs) grown using molecular beam epitaxy. A detailed assessment of surface chemical composition and optical properties of Al2O3passivated NWs with and without prior sulfur treatment were studied and compared to as-grown samples using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The XPS measurements reveal that prior sulfur treatment followed by Al2O3ALD deposition abates III-V native oxides from the NW surface. However, the degradation in 4K-PL intensity by an order of magnitude observed for NWs with Al2O3shell layer compared to the as-grown NWs, irrespective of prior sulfur treatment, suggests the formation of defect states at the NW/dielectric interface contributing to non-radiative recombination centers. This is corroborated by the Raman spectral broadening of LO and TO Raman modes, increased background scattering, and redshift observed for Al2O3deposited NWs relative to the as-grown. Thus, our work seems to indicate the unsuitability of ALD deposited Al2O3as a passivation layer for GaAsSb NWs.

Space charge limited conduction mechanism in GaAsSb nanowires and the effect of in situ annealing in ultra-high vacuum.

In this work, the first observation of the space charge limited conduction mechanism (SCLC) in GaAsSb nanowires (NWs) grown by Ga-assisted molecular beam epitaxial technique, and the effect of ultra-high vacuum in situ annealing have been investigated. The low onset voltage of the SCLC in the NW configuration has been advantageously exploited to extract trap density and trap distribution in the bandgap of this material system, using simple temperature dependent current-voltage measurements in both the ensemble and single nanowires. In situ annealing in ultra-high vacuum revealed significant reduction in the trap density from 1016 cm-3 in as-grown NWs to a low level of 7 × 1014 cm-3 and confining wider trap distribution to a single trap depth at 0.12 eV. A comparison of current conduction mechanism in the respective single nanowires using conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) further confirms the SCLC mechanism identified in GaAsSb ensemble device to be intrinsic. Higher current observed in current mapping by C-AFM, increased 4 K photoluminescence (PL) intensity along with reduced full-width half maxima and more symmetric PL spectra, and reduced asymmetrical broadening with increased TO/LO mode in room temperature Raman spectra for in situ annealed NWs again attest to effective annihilation of traps leading to the improved optical quality of NWs compared to as-grown NWs. Hence, the I-V-T analysis of the SCLC mechanism has been demonstrated as a simple approach to obtain information on growth induced traps in the NWs.

A study of n-doping in self-catalyzed GaAsSb nanowires using GaTe dopant source and ensemble nanowire near-infrared photodetector.

This work reports a comprehensive investigation of the effect of gallium telluride (GaTe) cell temperature variation (TGaTe) on the morphological, optical, and electrical properties of doped-GaAsSb nanowires (NWs) grown by Ga-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). These studies led to an optimum doping temperature of 550 °C for the growth of tellurium (Te)-doped GaAsSb NWs with the best optoelectronic and structural properties. Te incorporation resulted in a decrease in the aspect ratio of the NWs causing an increase in the Raman longitudinal optical/transverse optical vibrational mode intensity ratio, large photoluminescence emission with an exponential decay tail on the high energy side, promoting tunnel-assisted current conduction in ensemble NWs and significant photocurrent enhancement in the single nanowire. A Schottky barrier photodetector (PD) using Te-doped ensemble NWs with broad spectral range and a longer wavelength cutoff at ∼1.2 µm was demonstrated. These PDs exhibited responsivity in the range of 580-620 A W-1 and detectivity of 1.2-3.8 × 1012 Jones. The doped GaAsSb NWs have the potential for further improvement, paving the path for high-performance near-infrared (NIR) photodetection applications.

Corrigendum: Space charge limited conduction mechanism in GaAsSb nanowires and the effect of in-situ annealing in ultra-high vacuum (2020 Nanotechnology 31 025205).

In this work, the first observation of the space charge limited conduction mechanism (SCLC) in GaAsSb nanowires (NWs) grown by Ga-assisted molecular beam epitaxial technique, and the effect of ultrahigh vacuum in-situ annealing have been investigated. The low onset voltage of the SCLC in the NW configuration has been advantageously exploited to extract trap density and trap distribution in the bandgap of this material system, using simple temperature dependent current-voltage measurements in both the ensemble and single nanowires. In-situ annealing in an ultra-high vacuum revealed significant reduction in the trap density from 1016 cm-3 in as-grown NWs to a low level of 7 * 1014 cm-3 and confining wider trap distribution to a single trap depth at 0.12 eV. A comparison of current conduction mechanism in the respective single nanowires using conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) further confirms the SCLC mechanism identified in GaAsSb ensemble device to be intrinsic. Higher current observed in current mapping by C-AFM, increased 4K photoluminescence (PL) intensity along with reduced full-width half maxima and more symmetric PL spectra, reduced asymmetrical broadening and increased TO/LO mode in room temperature Raman spectra for in-situ annealed NWs again attest to effective annihilation of traps leading to the improved optical quality of NWs compared to as-grown NWs. Hence, the I-V-T analysis of the SCLC mechanism has been demonstrated to be a simple approach to obtain information on growth induced traps in the NWs.