Doped Nanowires Research Articles

Color-tunable photoluminescence from In-doped CdS nanowires

Color-tunable emission from semiconductor nanostructures holds promising applications in developing multi-color/color-tunable nano-devices. Herein, we reported the growth of In-doped CdS nanowires with various dopant concentrations via a thermal evaporation method. Optical measurement revealed the photoluminescence of these doped nanowires consists of a narrow bandedge emission and a broad trap-state emission, and the intensity ratio between them is tunable depending on excitation laser intensities and trap-state concentrations. On the basis of this variable intensity ratio, a tunable photoluminescent color from red to green was demonstrated. Our work indicates that trap-state emission from doped nanostructures might be useful for color-tunable emissions.

Luminescence dynamics of bound exciton of hydrogen doped ZnO nanowires

All-optical camera, converting X-rays into visible photons, is a promising strategy for high-performance X-ray imaging detector requiring high detection efficiency and ultrafast detector response time. Zinc oxide is a suitable material for all-optical camera due to its fast radiative recombination lifetime in sub-nanosecond regime and its radiation hardness. ZnO nanostructures have been considered as proper building blocks for ultrafast detectors with spatial resolution in sub-micrometer scale. To achieve remarkable enhancement of luminescence efficiency n-type doping in ZnO has been employed. However, luminescence dynamics of doped ZnO nanostructures have not been thoroughly investigated whereas undoped ZnO nanostructures have been employed to study their luminescence dynamics. Here we report a study of luminescence dynamics of hydrogen doped ZnO nanowires obtained by hydrogen plasma treatment. Hydrogen doping in ZnO nanowires gives rise to significant increase in the near-band-edge emission of ZnO and decrease in averaged photoluminescence lifetime from 300 to 140ps at 10K. The effects of hydrogen doping on the luminescent characteristics of ZnO nanowires were changed by hydrogen doping process variables.

Phonon–plasmon coupling in Si doped GaN nanowires

The vibrational properties of silicon doped GaN nanowires with diameters comprised between 40 and 100nm are studied by Raman spectroscopy through excitation with two different wavelengths: 532 and 405nm. Excitation at 532nm does not allow the observation of the coupled phonon–plasmon upper mode for the intentionally doped samples. Yet, excitation at 405nm results in the appearance of a narrow peak at frequencies close to that of the uncoupled A1(LO) mode for all samples. This behavior points to phonon–plasmon scattering mediated by large phonon wave-vector in these thin and highly doped nanowires.

Large-Scale Synthesis of Metal-Ion-Doped Manganese Dioxide for Enhanced Electrochemical Performance.

One-dimensional (1D) MnO2 was widely applied in areas of enzyme biosensors, industrial sieves, and energy storage materials owing to its excellent thermal, optical, magnetic, and chemical features. However, its practical application into energy storage devices is often hindered by the bad electronic conductivity (from 10(-5) to 10(-6) S cm(-1)). As is widely known, doping with hetero elements is an efficient way to enhance the electronic conductivity of metal oxides. Herein, a novel and simple molten-salt method is developed to achieve a large-scale preparation of 1D MnO2 nanowires. Such an approach also realizes the easy tuning of electrical properties through doping with different transition metal ions. On the basis of first-principle calculation as well as four-probe measurement, we determined that the conductivity of the doped MnO2 nanowires can be promoted efficiently by utilizing such protocol. Meanwhile, a possible doping route is discussed in detail. As a result, a superior electrochemical performance can be observed in such metal ions (M(+))-doped nanowires. Such high-quality M(+)-doped MnO2 nanowires can satisfy a broad range of application needs beyond the electrochemical capacitors.

Copper-Doped Titanium Dioxide Bronze Nanowires with Superior High Rate Capability for Lithium Ion Batteries.

Pristine and Cu-doped TiO2-B nanowires are synthesized by the microwave assisted hydrothermal method. The doped oxide exhibits a highly porous structure with a specific surface area of 160.7 m(2) g(-1). As evidenced by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy, around 2.0 atom % Cu(2+) cations are introduced into TiO2-B, which leads to not only a slightly expanded lattice network but also, more importantly, a modified electronic structure. The band gap of TiO2-B is reduced from 2.94 to 2.55 eV, resulting in enhanced electronic conductivity. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy reveal improved electrochemical kinetic properties of TiO2-B due to the Cu doping. The doped nanowires show a specific capacity of 186.8 mAh g(-1) at the 10 C rate with a capacity retention of 64.3% after 2000 cycles. Remarkably, our material exhibits a specific capacity of 150 mAh g(-1) at the 60 C rate, substantiating its superior high rate capability for rechargeable lithium batteries.

A Roadmap for Controlled and Efficient n‐Type Doping of Self‐Assisted GaAs Nanowires Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

N‐type doping of GaAs nanowires has proven to be difficult because the amphoteric character of silicon impurities is enhanced by the nanowire growth mechanism and growth conditions. The controllable growth of n‐type GaAs nanowires with carrier density as high as 1020 electron cm−3 by self‐assisted molecular beam epitaxy using Te donors is demonstrated here. Carrier density and electron mobility of highly doped nanowires are extracted through a combination of transport measurement and Kelvin probe force microscopy analysis in single‐wire field‐effect devices. Low‐temperature photoluminescence is used to characterize the Te‐doped nanowires over several orders of magnitude of the impurity concentration. The combined use of those techniques allows the precise definition of the growth conditions required for effective Te incorporation.

Increased Photoconductivity Lifetime in GaAs Nanowires by Controlled n-Type and p-Type Doping.

Controlled doping of GaAs nanowires is crucial for the development of nanowire-based electronic and optoelectronic devices. Here, we present a noncontact method based on time-resolved terahertz photoconductivity for assessing n- and p-type doping efficiency in nanowires. Using this technique, we measure extrinsic electron and hole concentrations in excess of 10(18) cm(-3) for GaAs nanowires with n-type and p-type doped shells. Furthermore, we show that controlled doping can significantly increase the photoconductivity lifetime of GaAs nanowires by over an order of magnitude: from 0.13 ns in undoped nanowires to 3.8 and 2.5 ns in n-doped and p-doped nanowires, respectively. Thus, controlled doping can be used to reduce the effects of parasitic surface recombination in optoelectronic nanowire devices, which is promising for nanowire devices, such as solar cells and nanowire lasers.

Incorporation of Be dopant in GaAs core and core–shell nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy

Effective implementation of doped nanowires (NWs) in nanoscaled devices requires controlled and effective dopant incorporation. The one dimensional configuration of NWs poses a challenge for efficient doping due to the large number of surface states pinning the Fermi level close to the middle of the band gap and thus creating a large depletion layer at the surface. This effectively reduces the effective volume for doping. However, the flexibility of different architectures offered by the NWs, in particular, the core–shell configuration along with different growth mechanisms associated with the core and shell can be strategically used for efficient doping. In this work, the authors report on a catalyst free Ga-assisted approach for the growth of Be-doped GaAs NWs by molecular beam epitaxy. A systematic and a comprehensive study is reported using a variety of characterization techniques to determine the impact of NW configuration, Be cell temperature, and V/III beam equivalent pressure (BEP) ratio individually on doping incorporation in the NWs. Broadening of the photoluminescence spectra in the 1.49–1.51 eV range, as well as the longitudinal optical mode of the corresponding Raman spectra in combination with its red shift that is considered as a signature of higher Be incorporation, was found to occur for the core–shell configuration. Further, a lower V/III BEP ratio has a strong impact on enhancing the dopant incorporation.

P-doped germanium nanowires with Fano-broadening in Raman spectrum

The optimized growth conditions for high density germanium (Ge) nanowires and P-doped Ge nanowires on Si (111) substrate were investigated, the phosphorus (P)-doping in Ge nanowires was also characterized. Vapor liquid solid-low pressure chemical vapor deposition (VLS-LPCVD) of Ge nanowires was conducted with different thicknesses of Au film as catalyst, different flow rates of GeH4 as precursor and PH3/Ar as co-flow. The morphologies of the Ge nanowires were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the P-doping was verified by micro Raman spectroscopy via measuring the P local vibrational peak (342-345 cm-1) and asymmetric broadening of Ge-Ge vibrational peak (about 300 cm-1), respectively. The characterization results show that 1 nm thickness of Au catalyst is the most suitable condition among thicknesses of 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 nm for the growth of high density Ge nanowires at 300 and 350 °C, and 0.5 sccm is the best flow rate of PH3/Ar to grow high density and large scale P-doped Ge nanowires among flow rates of 0.5, 1 and 2 sccm. The P impurity can be doped into Ge nanowires effectively during LPCVD process at 350 °C.

Doping evaluation of InP nanowires for tandem junction solar cells

In order to push the development of nanowire-based solar cells further using optimized nanowire diameter and pitch, a doping evaluation of the nanowire geometry is necessary. We report on a doping evaluation of n-type InP nanowires with diameters optimized for light absorption, grown by the use of metal–organic vapor phase epitaxy in particle-assisted growth mode using tetraethyltin (TESn) as the dopant precursor. The charge carrier concentration was evaluated using four-probe resistivity measurements and spatially resolved Hall measurements. In order to reach the highest possible nanowire doping level, we set the TESn molar fraction at a high constant value throughout growth and varied the trimethylindium (TMIn) molar fraction for different runs. Analysis shows that the charge carrier concentration in nanowires grown with the highest TMIn molar fraction (not leading to kinking nanowires) results in a low carrier concentration of approximately 1016 cm−3. By decreasing the molar fraction of TMIn, effectively increasing the IV/III ratio, the carrier concentration increases up to a level of about 1019 cm−3, where it seems to saturate. Axial carrier concentration gradients along the nanowires are found, which can be correlated to a combination of changes in the nanowire growth rate, measured in situ by optical reflectometry, and polytypism of the nanowires observed in transmission electron microscopy.

Enhanced optical properties due to indium incorporation in zinc oxide nanowires

Indium-doped zinc oxide nanowires grown by vapor-liquid-solid technique with 1.6 at. % indium content show intense room temperature photoluminescence (PL) that is red shifted to 20 meV from band edge. We report on a combination of nanowires and nanobelts-like structures with enhanced optical properties after indium doping. The near band edge emission shift gives an estimate for the carrier density as high as 5.5 × 1019 cm−3 for doped nanowires according to Mott's critical density theory. Quenching of the visible green peak is seen for doped nanostructures indicating lesser oxygen vacancies and improved quality. PL and transmission electron microscopy measurements confirm indium doping into the ZnO lattice, whereas temperature dependent PL data give an estimation of the donor and acceptor binding energies that agrees well with indium doped nanowires. This provides a non-destructive technique to estimate doping for 1D structures as compared to the traditional FET approach. Furthermore, these indium doped nanowires can be a potential candidate for transparent conducting oxides applications and spintronic devices with controlled growth mechanism.

A Comparison of Power Factor in N and P-Type SiGe Nanowires for Thermoelectric Applications

This work presents the thermoelectric properties of n- and p-type doped SiGe nanowires and shows the potential to generate electricity from heat difference over nanowires. The Si0.74Ge0.26 layers w ...

Si nanowires grown by Al-catalyzed plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition: synthesis conditions, electrical properties and application to lithium battery anodes

Silicon nanowires have been synhesized using Al as a catalyst. Silane (SiH4) diluted in H2 carrier gas was employed as Si precursor in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system operated at various temperatures (450 °C and 550 °C). Those growth temperatures, which are lower than the eutectic temperature in the Al–Si system (577 °C) suggests a vapor–solid–solid growth mechanism. Four point resistance measurements and back-gated current-voltage measurements indicated that silicon nanowires were heavily doped (p type), with a doping concentration of a few 1019 cm−3. We have measured hole mobility values of ∼16 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 450 °C and ∼30 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 550 °C. Transmission electron microscope analyses showed that the silicon nanowires were highly twinned even when they grow epitaxially on (111) Si substrates. We have also evaluated the use of those highly doped Si nanowires for lithium-ion battery anodes. We have observed a good cycling behavior during the first 65 charge–discharge cycles, followed by a slow capacity decay. After 150 cycles at a charge–discharge rate of 0.1 C, the electrode capacity was still 1400 mAh g−1. The ageing mechanism seems to be related to the delamination of the SiNWs from the stainless steel substrate on which they were grown.

Bismuth-catalyzed and doped p-type ZnSe nanowires and their temperature-dependent charge transport properties

Simultaneous ZnSe nanowire growth and p-type doping is realized in one step by using Bi as the catalyst and dopant via chemical vapor deposition. Temperature-dependent electrical measurements are used for understanding the charge transport mechanism and the doping effect.

Understanding the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism of Si nanowire growth and doping to synthetically encode precise nanoscale morphology

Bottom-up, chemical methods to control the morphology of semiconductor nanostructures are a promising complement to the top-down fabrication techniques that currently dominate the semiconductor industry.

Trap studies in silicon nanowire junctionless transistors using low-frequency noise

A method to envisage trap density in the semiconductor bandgap near the semiconductor/oxide interface of nanoscale silicon junctionless transistors (JLTs) is presented. JLTs are fabricated in a bottom-up fabrication technique using in situ highly doped nanowires grown by low pressure chemical vapor deposition. Low-frequency noise characterization of JLTs biased in saturation is conducted at different gate biases. The noise spectrum indicates either a Lorentzian or 1/f noise depending on the gate bias. Analysis of the results indicates very low trap densities in the order of 1016 cm−3eV−1. Low trap densities in these devices are associated with their simple fabrication technique, in situ oxide formation, and the absence of semiconductor junction and the ion implantation step in the process. A simple analysis of the low-frequency noise data leads to the density of the traps and their energy within the semiconductor bandgap and their location from the Si/SiO2 interface.

Defect-impurity complex induced long-range ferromagnetism in GaN nanowires

Present work investigates the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of Gd doped wurtzite GaN nanowires (NWs) oriented along the [0001] direction in presence of intrinsic defects by employing the GGA + U approximation. We find that Ga vacancy (VGa) exhibits lower formation energy compared to N vacancy. Further stabilization of point defects occurs due to the presence of Gd. The strength of ferromagnetism (FM) increases by additional positive charge induced by the VGa. Electronic structure analysis shows that VGa introduces defect levels in the band gap leading to ferromagnetic coupling due to the hybridization of the p states of the Ga and N atoms with the Gd d and f states. Ferromagnetic exchange coupling energy of 76.4 meV is obtained in presence of Gd-VGa complex; hence, the FM is largely determined by the cation vacancy-rare earth complex defects in GaN NWs.

N,P-co-doped carbon nanowires prepared from bacterial cellulose for supercapacitor

We report a low cost, environmentally friendly nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) co-doped porous carbon nanowires derived from bacterial cellulose which acts as the efficient electrode materials for the supercapacitor. The as-prepared material exhibits a large specific capacitance of 258 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g and an excellent cycling stability of 30000 cycles. The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of P and N doping in carbon nanowires and the unique three-dimensional network and porous structure. In addition, a symmetric supercapacitor has been fabricated by exploiting the as-prepared material as a positive electrode and negative electrode. The as-fabricated symmetric supercapacitor shows promising energy density of 5.4 Wh/kg at high power density of 200 W/kg, along with an excellent cycle stability of 87 % specific capacitance retention after 6000 cycles. The advanced specific capacitance and excellent cycle stability of the carbon nanowires imply that it could be a potential candidate in commercial applications of supercapacitors.

Doping-Induced Universal Conductance Fluctuations in GaN Nanowires.

The transport properties of Ge-doped single GaN nanowires are investigated, which exhibit a weak localization effect as well as universal conductance fluctuations at low temperatures. By analyzing these quantum interference effects, the electron phase coherence length was determined. Its temperature dependence indicates that in the case of highly doped nanowires electron-electron scattering is the dominant dephasing mechanism, while for the slightly doped nanowires dephasing originates from Nyquist-scattering. The change of the dominant scattering mechanism is attributed to a modification of the carrier confinement caused by the Ge-doping. The results demonstrate that the phase coherence length can be tuned by the donor concentration making Ge-doped GaN nanowires an ideal model system for studying the influence of impurities on quantum-interference effects in mesoscopic and nanoscale systems.

Electrical properties of phosphorus in situ doped Au-catalyst vapor liquid solid silicon nanowires

N-type in-situ doped silicon nanowire-based resistors are fabricated following a CMOS process fabrication. Silicon nanowires are prepared by a Vapour Liquid Solid (VLS) method using gold as the catalyst. The doping level is adjusted by varying the phosphine to silane mole ratio during silicon nanowire growth. A macroscopic electrical model is presented to extract the average silicon nanowire electrical resistivity over a large doping level range (varying from undoped to highly doped nanowires). Carrier transport is strongly affected by the trapping effect of gold impurities into silicon nanowires, and silicon nanowire electrical resistivity is three decades higher than for silicon bulk at low doping levels. The technological requirement in terms of doping level control for the fabrication of devices based on a gold catalyst VLS is demonstrated.