Harry E. Ruda

Growth of silicon nanowires via gold/silane vapor–liquid–solid reaction

Silicon nanowires (whiskers) have been grown on Si(111) via the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) reaction using silane as the Si source gas and Au as the mediating solvent. The silane partial pressure and temperature ranges were 0.01–1 Torr and 320–600 °C, respectively. Growth at high partial pressure and low temperature leads to the growth of Si nanowires as thin as 10 nm. These wires are single crystals but exhibit growth defects such as bending and kinking. Lowering the silane partial pressure leads to an increase in the wire width and a reduction in the tendency to form growth defects. At low pressure, 40–100 nm wide well-formed wires have been grown at 520 °C. The VLS reaction using silane allows the growth of Si wires, which are significantly thinner than those grown previously using SiCl4.

Growth of Au-catalyzed ordered GaAs nanowire arrays by molecular-beam epitaxy

Ordered gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowires are grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on GaAs (111)B substrates using Au-catalyzed vapor–liquid–solid growth defined by nanochannel alumina (NCA) templates. Field-emission scanning electron microscope images show highly ordered nanowires with a growth direction perpendicular to the substrate. The size (i.e., diameter) distribution of the wires is drastically narrowed by depositing the gold catalyst through an NCA template mask; this narrows the size distribution of the gold dots and arranges them in a well-ordered array, as defined by the NCA template. The nanowire diameter distribution full width at half maximum on the masked substrate is 5.1 nm, compared with 15.7 nm on an unmasked substrate.

Growth, branching, and kinking of molecular-beam epitaxial 〈110〉 GaAs nanowires

GaAs nanowires were grown on GaAs (100) substrates by vapor–liquid–solid growth. About 8% of these nanowires grew in 〈110〉 directions with straight, Y-branched or L-shaped morphologies. The role of strain-induced reduction in surface free energy is discussed as a possible factor contributing to the evolution of 〈110〉 nanowires. Kinking and branching is attributed to growth instabilities resulting from equivalent surface free energies for 〈110〉 growth directions. Transmission electron microscopy verified that 〈110〉 nanowires are defect free.GaAs nanowires were grown on GaAs (100) substrates by vapor–liquid–solid growth. About 8% of these nanowires grew in 〈110〉 directions with straight, Y-branched or L-shaped morphologies. The role of strain-induced reduction in surface free energy is discussed as a possible factor contributing to the evolution of 〈110〉 nanowires. Kinking and branching is attributed to growth instabilities resulting from equivalent surface free energies for 〈110〉 growth directions. Transmission electron microscopy verified that 〈110〉 nanowires are defect free.

Molecular-beam epitaxial growth of GaAs and InGaAs/GaAs nanodot arrays using anodic Al2O3 nanohole array template masks

Highly ordered arrays of nanosized GaAs-based dots were successfully prepared on GaAs (001) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy using selected area growth. Selected area growth employed alumina nanochannel array (NCA) templates formed by anodic oxidation, bonded to the GaAs substrates. Homogeneous GaAs dots, as well as compositionally modulated heterostructures within the nanosized dots, were demonstrated. In the latter case, multilayer InGaAs/GaAs heterostructured nanodot arrays were fabricated. Dot growth occurred only as defined by the template mask, resulting in a hexagonal lattice of dots with 100 nm period spacing, with dots retaining the circular lateral shape of the pores as determined by the NCA template pore size; dot diameters were adjustable from 45 to 85 nm for a lattice period of 100 nm. Cathodoluminescence spectra from an InGaAs/GaAs 10×10 dot array clearly showed an emission peak at 920 nm (5 K), confirming the formation of a high-quality InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot array.

High-temperature ferromagnetism in Mn-doped ZnO nanowires

We have observed ferromagnetism in dilute (∼1–4at.%) Mn-doped crystalline ZnO nanowires at temperatures up to 400K. Arrays of freestanding single crystal ZnO:Mn nanowires were fabricated by Au-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid growth. Structure and compositional analyses revealed that Mn was incorporated into the ZnO lattice. From the observed saturation magnetization, the magnetic moment per Mn atom is estimated to be between 0.3μB and 1.2μB. Photoluminescence measurements show a strong suppression of defect related midgap emission, indicative of an interplay between Mn doping and native point defects.

Improved dielectric properties of lead zirconate titanate thin films deposited on metal foils with LaNiO3 buffer layers

Improved dielectric properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films deposited on a variety of foils using buffer layers are reported. Foils include titanium, stainless steel, and nickel with LaNiO3(LNO) buffer layers which were prepared by sol–gel processing. High dielectric constant (330 for stainless steel, 420 for titanium, and 450 for nickel foils), low dielectric loss (<2.2% for titanium and 8% for stainless steel), symmetric ferroelectric C–V characteristics and P–E curves were obtained. The LNO layers are shown to provide an effective diffusion barrier for Ni and Cr and to restrict oxide layer formation (i.e., TiOx or NiOx) between the PZT film and the metallic foils during annealing in air.

Polarization-sensitive optical phenomena in thick semiconducting nanowires

For semiconducting nanowires with the dielectric constant e differing from that of their environment, the distribution of ac electric fields, created in a nanowire by an external lightwave and emitted outside by an effective dipole in a nanowire, is found. The results are used for calculating the spectra and polarization properties of optical absorption, luminescence, and photoconductivity in such nanowires. For relatively thick nanowires, with diameter a comparable to the light wavelength, all polarization characteristics exhibit strong oscillations with the light frequency ω and even change the sign over some intervals of ωa∕c. Some of these phenomena have already been observed experimentally. In a system of randomly oriented nanowires, they result in a polarization memory where polarization of photoluminescence is determined by the polarization of the exciting light, by a factor strongly dependent on the frequencies of both the exciting and emitted light.

Enhancement of band edge luminescence in ZnSe nanowires

In order to realize the full potential of nanowires for optical applications, it is essential to synthesize nanowires that can emit predominantly via band to band or band edge (BE) transitions. However, many compound semiconductor nanowires, irrespective of the method of their growth, contain a high density of native defects; these result in competing deep defect (DD) related emission, limiting their utility for optoelectronic device applications. The concentration of these native defect states depends on the gas phase stoichiometry. In this work, we report on the influence of gas phase stoichiometry on the structural and optical properties of single crystal zinc selenide (ZnSe) nanowires. We find that nanowires grown under stoichiometric conditions contain such defect states with associated weak BE emission and strong DD emission. However, nanowires grown under Zn-rich conditions were characterized by photoluminescence spectra dominated by strong BE emission while those grown under Se-rich conditions sho...

Electrical properties of Ohmic contacts to ZnSe nanowires and their application to nanowire-based photodetection

Multilayer Ti∕Au contacts were fabricated on individual, unintentionally doped zinc selenide nanowires with 80nm nominal diameter. Four-terminal contact structures were used to independently measure current-voltage characteristics of contacts and nanowires. Specific contact resistivity of Ti∕Au contacts is 0.024Ωcm2 and intrinsic resistivity of the nanowires is approximately 1Ωcm. The authors have also measured the spectral photocurrent responsivity of a ZnSe nanowire with 2.0V bias across Ti∕Au electrodes, which exhibits a turnon for wavelengths shorter than 470nm and reaches 22A∕W for optical excitation at 400nm.

Growth and photoluminescence characteristics of AlGaAs nanowires

Growth of high-quality single-crystal AlGaAs nanowires was demonstrated using the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism with molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). Highly ordered AlGaAs nanowire arrays and GaAs∕AlGaAs multilayer nanowires were also prepared. Photoluminescence (PL) from homogeneous AlGaAs and GaAs∕AlGaAs multilayer nanowires was measured. The Al composition of the AlGaAs nanowires was found to be significantly lower than that for planar MBE films grown under the same conditions, as determined from PL and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy measurements. This is explained in terms of the different growth mechanisms for VLS and normal MBE. Such AlGaAs nanowires are expected to have a wide range of applications in electronic and photonic devices.