Navneet Dhindsa

Color Generation and Refractive Index Sensing Using Diffraction from 2D Silicon Nanowire Arrays

Tunable structural color generation from vertical silicon nanowires arranged in different square lattices is demonstrated. The generated colors are adjustable using well-defined Bragg diffraction theory, and only depend on the lattice spacing and angles of incidence. Vivid colors spanning from bright red to blue are easily achieved. In keeping with this, a single square lattice of silicon nanowires is also able to produce different colors spanning the entire visible range. It is also shown that the 2D gratings also have a third grating direction when rotated 45 degrees. These simple and elegant solutions to color generation from silicon are used to demonstrate a cost-effective refractive index sensor. The sensor works by measuring color changes resulting from changes in the refractive index of the medium surrounding the nanowires using a trichromatic RGB decomposition. Moreover, the sensor produces linear responses in the trichromatic decomposition values versus the surrounding medium index. An index resolution of 10(-4) is achieved by performing basic image processing on the collected images, without the need for a laser or a spectrometer. Spectral analysis enables an increase in the index resolution of the sensor to a value of 10(-6) , with a sensitivity of 400 nm/RIU.

Highly ordered vertical GaAs nanowire arrays with dry etching and their optical properties

We report fabrication methods, including metal masks and dry etching, and demonstrate highly ordered vertical gallium arsenide nanowire arrays. The etching process created high aspect ratio, vertical nanowires with insignificant undercutting from the mask, allowing us to vary the diameter from 30 nm to 400 nm with a pitch from 250 nm to 1100 nm and length up to 2.2 μm. A diameter to pitch ratio of ∼68% was achieved. We also measured the reflectance from the nanowire arrays and show experimentally diameter-dependent strong absorption peaks resulting from resonant optical mode excitations within these nanowires. The reflectance curves match very well with simulations. The work done here paves the way towards achieving high efficiency solar cells and tunable photodetectors using III-V nanowires.

Highly enhanced Raman scattering from coupled vertical silicon nanowire arrays

Vertical silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays were fabricated in square lattices with varying diameters, pitches, and lengths, in order to investigate the effects on Raman scattering enhancement. An increase in absolute intensity of the 520 cm−1 vibrational mode by a factor of 15 was achieved for 1.1 μm long SiNWs with diameter of 115 nm arranged 400 nm apart. An oscillatory behaviour in the Raman intensity was also observed with increasing diameter, which is a result of constructive and destructive interferences within the array. A maximum Raman enhancement per unit volume (REV) of 838 was achieved for 115 nm diameter SiNWs with a length of 1.1 μm. The experimental REV results were supported and modelled quantitatively using finite difference time domain simulations.

Localized absorption in aluminum mask in visible spectrum due to longitudinal modes in vertical silicon nanowire arrays

Localized optical absorption in aluminum masks used for vertical silicon nanowire fabrication is demonstrated experimentally and supported using computer simulations. The mask is in the form of 30 nm thick aluminum nano-disks on top of silicon nanowires arranged in square lattices. The nanowires are 1 μm long, with diameters ranging from 60 nm to 100 nm and spaced 400 nm apart. New spectral features appear in the 500 nm–700 nm wavelengths range and are dependent on both the nanowire diameter and length. The former is due to the excitation of radial modes, whereas the latter stems from longitudinal (Fabry–Perot) resonances. The salient features associated with absorption in the aluminum mask and the role nanowire plays in this connection are discussed.

Nanowire dopant measurement using secondary ion mass spectrometry

A method is presented to improve the quantitative determination of dopant concentration in semiconductor nanowire (NW) arrays using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). SIMS measurements were used to determine Be dopant concentrations in a Be-doped GaAs thin film and NW arrays of various pitches that were dry-etched from the same film. A comparison of these measurements revealed a factor of 3 to 12 difference, depending on the NW array pitch, between the secondary Be ion yields of the film and the NW arrays, despite being identically doped. This was due to matrix effects and ion beam mixing of Be from the NWs into the surrounding benzocyclobutene that was used to fill the space between the NWs. This indicates the need for etched NWs to be used as doping standards instead of 2D films when evaluating NWs of unknown doping by SIMS. Using the etched NWs as doping standards, NW arrays of various pitches grown by the vapour-liquid-solid mechanism were characterized by SIMS to yield valuable insights into doping mechanisms.

Enhanced photothermal conversion in vertically oriented gallium arsenide nanowire arrays.

The photothermal properties of vertically etched gallium arsenide nanowire arrays are examined using Raman spectroscopy. The nanowires are arranged in square lattices with a constant pitch of 400 nm and diameters ranging from 50 to 155 nm. The arrays were illuminated using a 532 nm laser with an incident energy density of 10 W/mm(2). Nanowire temperatures were highly dependent on the nanowire diameter and were determined by measuring the spectral red-shift for both TO and LO phonons. The highest temperatures were observed for 95 nm diameter nanowires, whose top facets and sidewalls heated up to 600 and 440 K, respectively, and decreased significantly for the smaller or larger diameters studied. The diameter-dependent heating is explained by resonant coupling of the incident laser light into optical modes of the nanowires, resulting in increased absorption. Photothermal activity in a given nanowire diameter can be optimized by proper wavelength selection, as confirmed using computer simulations. This demonstrates that the photothermal properties of GaAs nanowires can be enhanced and tuned by using a photonic lattice structure and that smaller nanowire diameters are not necessarily better to achieve efficient photothermal conversion. The diameter and wavelength dependence of the optical coupling could allow for localized temperature gradients by creating arrays which consist of different diameters.

Multi-spectral optical absorption in substrate-free nanowire arrays

A method is presented of fabricating gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowire arrays of controlled diameter and period by reactive ion etching of a GaAs substrate containing an indium gallium arsenide (InGaP) etch stop layer, allowing the precise nanowire length to be controlled. The substrate is subsequently removed by selective etching, using the same InGaP etch stop layer, to create a substrate-free GaAs nanowire array. The optical absorptance of the nanowire array was then directly measured without absorption from a substrate. We directly observe absorptance spectra that can be tuned by the nanowire diameter, as explained with rigorous coupled wave analysis. These results illustrate strong optical absorption suitable for nanowire-based solar cells and multi-spectral absorption for wavelength discriminating photodetectors. The solar-weighted absorptance above the bandgap of GaAs was 94% for a nanowire surface coverage of only 15%.

Adjustable optical response of amorphous silicon nanowires integrated with thin films.

We experimentally demonstrate a new optical platform by integrating hydrogenated amorphous silicon nanowire arrays with thin films deposited on transparent substrates like glass. A 535 nm thick thin film is anisotropically etched to fabricate vertical nanowire arrays of 100 nm diameter arranged in a square lattice. Adjusting the nanowire length, and consequently the thin film thickness permits the optical properties of this configuration to be tuned for either transmission filter response or enhanced broadband absorption. Vivid structural colors are also achieved in reflection and transmission. The optical properties of the platform are investigated for three different etch depths. Transmission filter response is achieved for a configuration with nanowires on glass without any thin film. Alternatively, integrating thin film with nanowires increases the absorption efficiency by ∼97% compared to the thin film starting layer and by ∼78% over nanowires on glass. The ability to tune the optical response of this material in this fashion makes it a promising platform for high performance photovoltaics, photodetectors and sensors.

A platform for colorful solar cells with enhanced absorption

We demonstrate submicron thick platform integrating amorphous silicon nanowires and thin-films achieving vivid colors in transmission and reflection. The platform nearly doubles the absorption efficiency compared to the starting thin-film without much compromising with color diverseness. The structural colors can be changed over a wide range by changing the diameters of the nanowires while still keeping the absorption efficiency higher than starting thin-film. The optical response of the platform is conceptually understood for different diameters combined with different thin-film thicknesses indicating the presence of leaky waveguide modes and coupled cavity modes. Our proposed platform can enable architectural low price colorful solar cells on transparent substrates.

Top-down fabricated tapered GaAs nanowires with sacrificial etching of the mask

A novel fabrication method using controlled sacrificial etching of the mask is utilized to fabricate tapered vertical GaAs nanowire arrays. Experimental measurements of the absorption characteristics show that the tapered nanowires absorb over a broadband range as compared to cylindrical ones. The broadband characterization is verified by using optical modeling and results from improved coupling of the nanowires due to distinct radial HE modes being excited separately in the taper and the cylindrical part. The absorption is found to be more broadband as compared to conical nanowires studied so far.