Abstract
Transistor concepts based on semiconductor nanowires promise high performance, lower energy consumption and better integrability in various platforms in nanoscale dimensions. Concerning the intrinsic transport properties of electrons in nanowires, relatively high mobility values that approach those in bulk crystals have been obtained only in core/shell heterostructures, where electrons are spatially confined inside the core. Here, it is demonstrated that the strain in lattice-mismatched core/shell nanowires can affect the effective mass of electrons in a way that boosts their mobility to distinct levels. Specifically, electrons inside the hydrostatically tensile-strained gallium arsenide core of nanowires with a thick indium aluminium arsenide shell exhibit mobility values 30–50 % higher than in equivalent unstrained nanowires or bulk crystals, as measured at room temperature. With such an enhancement of electron mobility, strained gallium arsenide nanowires emerge as a unique means for the advancement of transistor technology.
Highlights
Transistor concepts based on semiconductor nanowires promise high performance, lower energy consumption and better integrability in various platforms in nanoscale dimensions
Our results demonstrate that the reduction of the electron effective mass inside the hydrostatically tensile-strained core of GaAs/In0.37Al0.63As core/shell nanowires causes a significant enhancement of mobility
The relative increase of mobility with respect to unstrained nanowires and bulk GaAs was measured by optical-pump THz-probe spectroscopy (OPTPS) equal to 30%
Summary
Transistor concepts based on semiconductor nanowires promise high performance, lower energy consumption and better integrability in various platforms in nanoscale dimensions. Electrons inside the hydrostatically tensile-strained gallium arsenide core of nanowires with a thick indium aluminium arsenide shell exhibit mobility values 30–50 % higher than in equivalent unstrained nanowires or bulk crystals, as measured at room temperature. The charge carriers are kept away from the nanowire surface by overgrowing the nanowires with a thick enough and usually lattice-matched shell of a semiconductor with a larger bandgap With such an approach, electron mobility values of up to 3000 cm[2] V−1 s−1 at room temperature for electron concentrations of 1017– 1018 cm−3 have been reported for the core of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs core/shell nanowires, approaching values, which are typical for bulk GaAs16. Hydrostatic tensile strain (expansion in all three dimensions) in the GaAs core of up to 7% was obtained, narrowing the bandgap of GaAs from its unstrained value of
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