Semiconductor nanowires as a novel electronic materials technology for future electronic devices

Abstract

Summary form only given, as follows. Extreme down-scaling of nanoelectronic devices by top-down fabrication methods may be hindered by several obstacles, such as the cost for patterning and processing, or inferior device performance due to process-induced damage. In this presentation I will present a bottom-up approach for nanometer-scale device abrication, based on seeded growth of semiconductor nanowires, using a method traditionally described as vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth. I will try to summarize how this approach has, in just 3-4 years, moved the technology from quite poorly controlled sprouting of nanowires without real control of dimensions or location, to a much more mature technology by which positioning and dimensions of nanowires as monolithic extensions of the substrate wafer are tightly controlled, and with the ability to create atomically abrupt and complex heterostructure devices, enabling devices such as resonant-tunneling diodes and singleelectron transistors to be created.