Brent Wacaser

Growth related aspects of epitaxial nanowires

We use metal–organic vapour phase epitaxy for growth investigations of epitaxial nanowires in III–V materials, such as GaAs, GaP, InAs, and InP. In this paper we focus on gold assisted growth of nanowires. The nature of the metal particle—whether it is in the solid or liquid state—is discussed. For InAs and InP we have demonstrated that gold assisted wires can only grow at temperatures where the particle is solid. We continue with a discussion concerning the kinetic aspects of nanowire growth. Under common growth conditions one observes that thinner wires grow faster than thicker wires, contrary to what was described in the early days of whisker growth. We address and resolve this discrepancy by discussing a simple transport model and comparing the supersaturations of different systems. Finally, we describe the morphology of epitaxial III–V nanowires with emphasis on the crystal structure.

Growth system, structure, and doping of aluminum-seeded epitaxial silicon nanowires.

We have examined the formation of silicon nanowires grown by self-assembly from Si substrates with thin aluminum films. Postgrowth and in situ investigations using various Al deposition and annealing conditions suggest that nanowire growth takes place with a supercooled liquid droplet (i.e., the vapor-liquid-solid system), even though the growth temperatures are below the bulk Al/Si eutectic temperature. Wire morphology as a function of processing conditions is also described. It is shown that when Al environmental exposure is prevented before wire growth a wide process window for wire formation can be achieved. Under optimum growth conditions, it is possible to produce excellent crystal quality nanowires with rapid growth rates, high surface densities, low diameter dispersion, and controlled tapering. Photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicate that the use of Al leads to active doping levels that depend on the growth temperature in as-grown nanowires and increase when annealed. We suggest that these structural and electronic properties will be relevant to photovoltaic and other applications, where the more common use of Au is believed to be detrimental to performance.

Transients in the Formation of Nanowire Heterostructures

We present results on the effect of seed particle reconfiguration on the growth of short InAs and InP nanowire segments. The reconfiguration originates in two different steady state alloy compositions of the Au/In seed particle during growth of InAs and InP. From compositional analysis of the seed particle, the In content in the seed particle is determined to be 34 and 44% during InAs and InP growth, respectively. When switching between growing InAs and InP, transient effects dominate during the time period of seed particle reconfiguration. We developed a model that quantitatively explains the effect and with the added understanding we are now able to grow short period (<10 nm) nanowire superlattices.

Electrospraying of colloidal nanoparticles for seeding of nanostructure growth

Nanometre-sized particles (1-100 nm) have unique properties receiving growing attention in wide areas of research. Here, a convenient method to deposit size-selected nanoparticles on surfaces by means of electrospraying colloidal suspensions in the aerosol phase is presented. We demonstrate the deposition of individual nanoparticles and the feasibility of this method in seeding gold particles for nanostructure growth. An advantage of the present method is the easy set-up and operation, using only commercially available machinery and substances. Problems regarding low deposition rates and colloidal remnants are approached, e. g. the aerosol flow is examined in a differential mobility analyser. This method is not material dependent and could be extended to deposit any colloidal particle.

Improving InAs nanotree growth with composition-controlled Au–In nanoparticles

Au nanoparticles are commonly used as seeds for epitaxial growth of III-V semiconductor nanowires. However, the interaction between Au and In-containing III-V materials makes it difficult to control the growth of more complex nanowire structures in materials such as InAs. Here we report the growth of InAs nanowires and branched nanotrees using Au and Au-In nanoparticles. We show that the initial composition of the particle does not affect the morphology of the first-generation nanowires, nor does it affect the final composition of the particle after growth. However, when the Au-In particles were used to seed a second generation of nanowires, producing nanotrees, the branches exhibited a 2-3 times higher growth rate and more regular shape than those seeded by pure Au particles. This result is attributed to the decreased interaction between the seed particle and the trunk nanowires when Au-In particles are used. Thus the incorporation of In into the seed particle during particle production allows for modification of the particle-wire interaction.

Epitaxial Integration of Nanowires in Microsystems by Local Micrometer-Scale Vapor-Phase Epitaxy

Free-standing epitaxially grown nanowires provide a controlled growth system and an optimal interface to the underlying substrate for advanced optical, electrical, and mechanical nanowire device connections. Nanowires can be grown by vapor-phase epitaxy (VPE) methods such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or metal organic VPE (MOVPE). However, VPE of semiconducting nanowires is not compatible with several microfabrication processes due to the high synthesis temperatures and issues such as cross-contamination interfering with the intended microsystem or the VPE process. By selectively heating a small microfabricated heater, growth of nanowires can be achieved locally without heating the entire microsystem, thereby reducing the compatibility problems. The first demonstration of epitaxial growth of silicon nanowires by this method is presented and shows that the microsystem can be used for rapid optimization of VPE conditions. The important issue of the cross-contamination of other parts of the microsystem caused by the local growth of nanowires is also investigated by growth of GaN near previously grown silicon nanowires. The design of the cantilever heaters makes it possible to study the grown nanowires with a transmission electron microscope without sample preparation.

Core-shell InP-CdS nanowires: fabrication and study

InP nanowires are fabricated by organo-metallic vapour phase epitaxy and studied via photoluminescence measurements performed on single nanowires, finding evidence of state filling with increasing excitation power density. To increase flexibility in fabrication technology we developed a wet chemical procedure to grow a CdS shell on these wires. In these InP-CdS wires the luminescence efficiency was decreased with respect to the bare wires. The CdS capping procedure needs further investigations to improve the emission properties of nanowires, in order to become technically useful. We suggest as possible improvements of this technique to increase the bath temperature and/or illuminate the sample with UV radiation during the capping procedure.

Contactless measurement of surface dominated recombination in gold- and aluminum-catalyzed silicon vapor-liquid-solid wires.

Carrier lifetimes of Si micro/nanowires grown by the vapor-liquid-solid method are measured using an extension of the classic contactless photoconductivity decay method. The samples measured consist of a thin aggregated film of oxide passivated wires on a fused silica carrier. Au catalyzed wires in the 392-730 nm diameter range are studied. Recombination in these wires is controlled by the surface or near surface effects, not bulk Au impurities. The lifetimes of Au- and Al-catalyzed wires of comparable diameter are measured. The Al wires are found to have slightly longer lifetimes than those grown with Au at a comparable diameter. Across all samples, the lifetimes measured range was from 0.2 to 1.0 ns. The surface controlled nature of the recombination measured implies larger diameter wires will offer better performance in devices that rely on minority carrier transport.

Size-selected compound semiconductor quantum dots by nanoparticle conversion

We have developed a novel technology, called nanoparticle conversion, for producing compound semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) in which the dot size, surface density, position, and the materials system are all independently controlled. Nanoparticle conversion also lends itself to spatially controlled positioning of QDs. To demonstrate this technology we report the formation of InP QDs using nanoparticle conversion. We have produced QDs on substrates of different types by converting randomly and lithographically positioned nanoparticles into compound semiconductors in a chemical vapour deposition system. Electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements reveal that the morphology of these QDs is similar to that of QDs produced by other techniques. Photo- and cathodoluminescence measurements show that the converted nanoparticles exhibit properties and behaviours typical of semiconductor QDs. These include quantum confinement, free-to-bound recombination and blinking. Production of multi-component QDs like InP, GaN, and InAsP on various substrates like Si, SiO2, and sapphire show that this technology can produce a wide variety of different types of QD on different substrates with minimal need for process optimization.

Structural Characterisation of GaP B Nanowires by HRTEM

GaP B nanowires are dominated by (111) twins orthogonal to the growth direction and show well-developed {111} side-facets. Based on this, a 3D-model has been constructed with a cross-section of an octahedron used as a building block. The twins can be of ortho- or para type i.e. by 60° about the growth axis or 180° in the twin plane. The segment thickness variation follows an exponential distribution with a clear dependence on growth temperature. Multislice simulations show different features of the twin types that are useful for further characterisation.