Electrochemical Fabrication of InSb Nanowires using Porous Alumina Membrane and their Characterization

Abstract

ABSTRACTAmong various ways to produce nanowires; anodic alumina membrane (AAM) based synthesis has constantly received much attention because AAM possess a uniform and parallel porous structure which makes them an ideal template material for creating highly ordered nanostructures. In this paper we report fabrication of InSb nanowire arrays with diameter of 200 nm and 30 nm by direct current electrodeposition inside the nanochannels of anodic alumina membranes without subsequent annealing. The nanowires have four major growth direction, [220] being the most dominant with structure defects such as twins. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results demonstrate that these InSb nanowires are uniform with diameters about 200 nm and 30 nm, corresponding to the pore diameter of the AAMs. The nanowires also conduct almost no current in the dark, but when hit with light, they conduct 10,000 times more current. This photoconduction property could lead to a variety of tiny optoelectronic devices potentially useful in future generations of nanoelectronics and chemical sensors. The light-induced conductivity increase and the temperature dependent behavior of the nanowires are also reported.