Epitaxial Growth Of Nanowires Research Articles

Nonlinear thermoelectric efficiency of superlattice-structured nanowires

We theoretically investigate nonlinear ballistic thermoelectric transport in a superlattice-structured nanowire. By a special choice of nonuniform widths of the superlattice barriers - analogous to anti-reflection coating in optical systems - it is possible to achieve a transmission which comes close to a square profile as a function of energy. We calculate the low-temperature output power and power-conversion efficiency of a thermoelectric generator based on such a structure and show that the efficiency remains high also when operating at a significant power. To provide guidelines for experiments, we study how the results depend on the nanowire radius, the number of barriers, and on random imperfections in barrier width and separation. Our results indicate that high efficiencies can indeed be achieved with todays capabilities in epitaxial nanowire growth.

Splitting and survival probabilities in stochastic random walk methods and applications

Abstract We suggest a series of extremely fast stochastic algorithms based on exact representations we derive in this paper for the first passage time and exit point probability densities, splitting and survival probabilities. We apply the developed algorithms to the following three classes of problems: (1) simulation of epitaxial nanowire growth, (2) diffusion imaging of microstructures, in particular, cathodoluminescence imaging for threading dislocations, and (3) simulation of the annihilation of electrons and holes in vicinity of nonradiative centers and quantum efficiency evaluation. In the last example the Random Walk on Spheres method is used to solve nonlinear diffusion equations, and to more general systems of nonlinear Smoluchowski equations combined with the kinetic Monte Carlo method.

Epitaxial Growth of Multi-structure SnO2 by Chemical Vapor Deposition

The nanowire and whisker heterostructures of tin dioxide were fabricated by the chemical vapor deposition technique. It was demonstrated that various structures of tin oxide can be obtained by controlling the thickness of gold layer and the partial pressure of source vapor at growing sites. 12.5 and 25 nm thicknesses are preferable for the epitaxial growth of nanowires and heterostructure through vapor–liquid–solid mechanism, respectively. The tin dioxide whiskers with core-shell structure were fabricated by vapor–solid mechanism. Meanwhile, the influences of various factors on the tin dioxide growth are also discussed.

Direct Electrodeposition of Crystalline Si Nanowires at Low Temperatures

Crystalline Si nanowires (SiNWs) were synthesized through an electrochemical liquid-liquid-solid (ec-LLS) deposition process from dissolved SiCl4 in propylene carbonate at 90 °C using Ga nanoelectrodes. Scanning electron micrographs showed controlled growth of nanowire structured deposits from an array of Ga nanoelectrodes after the ec-LLS process. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy indicated that the chemical composition of as deposit nanowires was Si with low Ga incorporation. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy separately indicated that the film of as-deposited SiNWs were crystalline. Electron beam diffraction of a single SiNW was taken within a transmission electron microscope and patterns for a diamond cubic crystal structure was obtained. Scanning electron micrographs of the orientation of nanowires on Si(111) and Si(100) substrates with different crystalline orientations suggested that epitaxial nanowire growth was achieved under these conditions. Cyclic voltammogram of SiCl4 electrolyte on Ga nanoelectrodes and potential response of the chronopotentiometry experiment that produced SiNWs indicated that the SiNW deposition is energetically favorable to other parallel processes in the deposition electrolyte. Temperature dependence study showed that SiNWs could be produced using ec-LLS at as low as 60 °C, at which temperature Si solubility in Ga and Si diffusivity in Ga is sufficient for heterogeneous nucleation to occur at Ga/substrate interface.

Gallium loading of gold seed for high yield of patterned GaAs nanowires

A method is presented for maximizing the yield and crystal phase purity of vertically aligned Au-assisted GaAs nanowires grown with an SiOx selective area epitaxy mask on GaAs (111)B substrates. The nanowires were grown by the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method in a gas source molecular beam epitaxy system. During annealing, Au VLS seeds will alloy with the underlying GaAs substrate and collect beneath the SiOx mask layer. This behavior is detrimental to obtaining vertically aligned, epitaxial nanowire growth. To circumvent this issue, Au droplets were pre-filled with Ga assuring vertical yields in excess of 99%.

Room-Temperature Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Single-Crystalline Germanium Nanowires at the Wafer Scale from an Aqueous Solution

Direct epitaxial growth of single-crystalline germanium (Ge) nanowires at room temperature has been performed through an electrodeposition process on conductive wafers immersed in an aqueous bath. The crystal growth is based on an electrochemical liquid-liquid-solid (ec-LLS) process involving the electroreduction of dissolved GeO2(aq) in water at isolated liquid gallium (Ga) nanodroplet electrodes resting on single-crystalline Ge or Si supports. Ge nanowires were electrodeposited on the wafer scale (>10 cm(2)) using only common glassware and a digital potentiostat. High-resolution electron micrographs and electron diffraction patterns collected from cross sections of individual substrate-nanowire contacts in addition to scanning electron micrographs of the orientation of nanowires across entire films on substrates with different crystalline orientations, supported the notion of epitaxial nanowire growth. Energy dispersive spectroscopic elemental mapping of single nanowires indicated the Ga(l) nanodroplet remains affixed to the tip of the growing nanowire throughout the nanowire electrodeposition process. Current-voltage responses measured across many individual nanowires yielded reproducible resistance values. The presented data cumulatively show epitaxial growth of covalent group IV nanowires is possible from the reduction of a dissolved oxide under purely benchtop conditions.

Epitaxial ZnO Nanowire‐on‐Nanoplate Structures as Efficient and Transferable Field Emitters

Highly epitaxial ZnO nanowire-on-nanoplate structures as efficient and transferable electron field emitters are reported here. Well-faceted ZnO nanoplates can be used as efficient substrates for the epitaxial growth of nanowires with a sharp and high-quality interface, which significantly improves its field emitter performance. Because of its scalable preparation, high performance and facile transfer, the novel material is of high potential for applications in various optoelectronic devices.

Synthesis of Antimony‐Based Nanowires Using the Simple Vapor Deposition Method

III-V nanowires have attracted plenty of attention because of their potential outstanding performance in a wide range of applications. However, compared to other III-V nanowires, the synthesis of high quality Sb-based nanowires is less developed, which obstructs the progress towards further applications. In this study we report high quality GaSb and InSb nanowires synthesized by a simple vapor deposition method. Epitaxial growth of nanowires on growth substrates is demonstrated. Te doped GaSb nanowires are achieved through in situ doping during the vapor deposition process. Electrical measurements of nanowire field-effect transistors show high performance of the synthesized InSb nanowires.

Self‐Assembled In‐Plane Growth of Mg2SiO4 Nanowires on Si Substrates Catalyzed by Au Nanoparticles

AbstractIn‐plane growth of Mg2SiO4 nanowires on Si substrates is achieved by using a vapor transport method with Au nanoparticles as catalyst. The self‐assembly of the as‐grown nanowires shows dependence on the substrate orientation, i.e., they are along one, two, and three particular directions on Si (110), (100), and (111) substrates, respectively. Detailed electron microscopy studies suggest that the Si substrates participate in the formation of Mg2SiO4, and the epitaxial growth of the nanowires is confined along the Si <110> directions. This synthesis route is quite reliable, and the dimensions of the Mg2SiO4 nanowires can be well controlled by the experiment parameters. Furthermore, using these nanowires, a lithography‐free method is demonstrated to fabricate nanowalls on Si substrates by controlled chemical etching. The Au nanoparticle catalyzed in‐plane epitaxial growth of the Mg2SiO4 nanowires hinges on the intimate interactions between substrates, nanoparticles, and nanowires, and our study may help to advance the developments of novel nanomaterials and functional nanodevices.

Direct Growth of Nanowire Logic Gates and Photovoltaic Devices

Bottom-up nanowires are useful building blocks for functional devices because of their controllable physical and chemical properties. However, assembling nanowires into large-scale integrated systems remains a critical challenge that becomes even more daunting when different nanowires need to be simultaneously assembled in close proximity to one another. Herein, we report a new method to directly grow nanowire devices consisting of different nanowires. The method is based on the epitaxial growth of nanowires from the sidewalls of electrodes and on the matching of electrode design with synthesis conditions to electrically connect different nanowires during growth. Specifically, the method was used to grow silicon nanowire-based AND and OR diode logic gates with excellent rectifying behaviors, and photovoltaic elements in parallel and in series, with tunable power output.

Epitaxy of Ge Nanowires Grown from Biotemplated Au Nanoparticle Catalysts

Semiconductor nanowires (NWs) are being actively investigated due to their unique functional properties which result from their quasi-one-dimensional structure. However, control over the crystallographic growth direction, diameter, location, and morphology of high-density NWs is essential to achieve the desirable properties and to integrate these NWs into miniaturized devices. This article presents evidence for the suitability of a biological templated catalyst approach to achieve high-density, epitaxial growth of NWs via the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. Bacterial surface-layer protein lattices from Deinococcus radiodurans were adsorbed onto germanium substrates of (111), (110), and (100) crystallographic orientations and used to template gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) of different diameters. Orientation-controlled growth of GeNWs was achieved from very small size (5-20 nm) biotemplated AuNP catalysts on all of the substrates studied. Biotemplated GeNWs exhibited improved morphologies, higher densities (NW/microm(2)), and more uniform length as compared to GeNWs grown from nontemplated AuNPs on the substrate surfaces. The results offer an integrated overview of the interplay of parameters such as catalyst size, catalyst density, substrate crystallographic orientation, and the presence of the protein template in determining the morphology and growth direction of GeNWs. A comparison between templated and nontemplated growth provides additional insight into the mechanism of VLS growth of biotemplated NWs.

Formation of Single Tiers of Bridging Silicon Nanowires for Transistor Applications Using Vapor–Liquid–Solid Growth from Short Silicon‐on‐Insulator Sidewalls

Single tiers of silicon nanowires that bridge the gap between the short sidewalls of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) source/drain pads are formed. The formation of a single tier of bridging nanowires is enabled by the attachment of a single tier of Au catalyst nanoparticles to short SOI sidewalls and the subsequent growth of epitaxial nanowires via the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process. The growth of unobstructed nanowire material occurs due to the attachment of catalyst nanoparticles on silicon surfaces and the removal of catalyst nanoparticles from the SOI-buried oxide (BOX). Three-terminal current-voltage measurements of the structure using the substrate as a planar backgate after VLS nanowire growth reveal transistor behaviour characteristics.

Generation of size-selected gold nanoparticles by spark discharge — for growth of epitaxial nanowires

One-dimensional semiconductor nanowires are a promising candidate for future electronic devices. The epitaxial growth of nanowires is often mediated by metal seed particles, usually gold particles. In this paper the setup of a simple and robust technique to generate nanometer-sized aerosol gold particles by spark discharge is described. Furthermore we demonstrate for the first time that particles generated by spark discharge can be used to design advanced nanoelectronic structures, namely nanowires. In order to obtain compact, spherical particles suitable for nanowire growth, the sparkgenerated agglomerate particles were reshaped in a special compaction furnace. The reshaped particles were used to seed the growth of epitaxial GaP and InP nanowires, by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy, which was shown to be a reliable and reproducible method. This work indicates the possibility of using spark-discharge generated gold particles for the creation of new electronic devices even at large scale processing.

Epitaxial Growth of III-V Nanowires on Group IV Substrates

ABSTRACTSemiconducting nanowires are emerging as a route to combine heavily mismatched materials. The high level of control on wire dimensions and chemical composition makes them promising materials to be integrated in future silicon technologies as well as to be the active element in optoelectronic devices.In this article, we review the recent progress in epitaxial growth of nanowires on non-corresponding substrates. We highlight the advantage of using small dimensions to facilitate accommodation of the lattice strain at the surface of the structures. More specifically, we will focus on the growth of III–V nanowires on group IV substrates. This approach enables the integration of high-performance III–V semiconductors monolithically into mature silicon technology, since fundamental issues of III–V integration on Si such as lattice and thermal expansion mismatch can be overcome. Moreover, as there will only be one nucleation site per crystallite, the system will not suffer from antiphase boundaries.Issues that affect the electronic properties of the heterojunction, such as the crystallographic quality and diffusion of elements across the heterointerface will be discussed. Finally, we address potential applications of vertical III–V nanowires grown on silicon.

Epitaxial Growth of III-V Nanowires on Group IV Substrates

AbstractSemiconducting nanowires are emerging as a route to combine heavily mismatched materials. The high level of control on wire dimensions and chemical composition makes them promising materials to be integrated in future silicon technologies as well as to be the active element in optoelectronic devices.This ar ticle reviews the recent progress in epitaxial growth of nanowires on non-corresponding substrates. We highlight the advantage of using small dimensions to facilitate accommodation of the lattice strain at the surface of the structures. More specifically, we will focus on the growth of III-V nanowires on Group IV substrates. This approach enables the integration of high-perform ance III-V semiconductors monolithically into mature silicon technology, since fundamental issues of III-V integration on Si such as lattice and thermal expansion mismatch can be overcome. Moreover, as there will only be one nucleation site per crystallite, the system will not suffer from antiphase boundaries.Issues that affect the electronic properties of the heterojunction, such as the crystallographic quality and diffusion of elements across the heterointerface, will be discussed. Finally, we address potential applications of vertical III-V nanowires grown on silicon.

Germanium Nanowire Epitaxy: Shape and Orientation Control

Epitaxial growth of nanowires along the 111 directions was obtained on Ge(111), Ge(110), Ge(001), and heteroepitaxial Ge on Si(001) substrates at temperatures of 350 degrees C or less by gold-nanoparticle-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition. On Ge(111), the growth was mostly vertical. In addition to 111 growth, 110 growth was observed on Ge(001) and Ge(110) substrates. Tapering was avoided by the use of the two-temperature growth procedure, reported earlier by Greytak et al.

The shape of epitaxially grown silicon nanowires and the influence of line tension

Silicon nanowires grown epitaxially via the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism show a larger diameter at the base of the nanowire, which cannot be explained by an overgrowth of the nanowire alone. By considering the equilibrium condition for the contact angle of the droplet, the Neumann quadrilateral relation, a quasi-static model of epitaxial nanowire growth is derived. It is found that a change of the contact angle of the droplet is responsible for the larger diameter of the nanowire base, so that the expansion has to be considered a fundamental aspect of epitaxial vapor–liquid–solid growth. By comparison of experimental results with theoretical calculations, an estimate for the line tension is obtained. In addition, the growth model predicts the existence of two different growth modes. Only within a certain range of line-tension values is the mode corresponding to ordinary nanowire growth realized, whereas nanowire growth stops at a relatively small height if the line tension exceeds an upper boundary. An approximate analytic expression for the upper boundary as a function of the surface tensions is given.

Growth of epitaxial nanowires by controlled coarsening of strained islands

We show that elongated nanowires can be grown on crystal surfaces by allowing large strained two-dimensional islands to desorb by varying the adatom supersaturation or chemical potential. The width of the wires formed in this process is determined by a competition between the repulsive elastic interactions of the long edges of the wires and the thermodynamic driving force which tends to decrease the distance between these edges. The proposed mechanism allows for control of the wire sizes by changing the growth conditions, in particular, the vapor pressure of the material that is being deposited.