Pingping Chen

Single InAs Nanowire Room-Temperature Near-Infrared Photodetectors

Here we report InAs nanowire (NW) near-infrared photodetectors having a detection wavelength up to ∼1.5 μm. The single InAs NW photodetectors displayed minimum hysteresis with a high Ion/Ioff ratio of 10(5). At room temperature, the Schottky-Ohmic contacted photodetectors had an external photoresponsivity of ∼5.3 × 10(3) AW(-1), which is ∼300% larger than that of Ohmic-Ohmic contacted detectors (∼1.9 × 10(3) AW(-1)). A large enhancement in photoresponsivity (∼300%) had also been achieved in metal Au-cluster-decorated InAs NW photodetectors due to the formation of Schottky junctions at the InAs/Au cluster contacts. The photocurrent decreased when the photodetectors were exposed to ambient atmosphere because of the high surface electron concentration and rich surface defect states in InAs NWs. A theoretical model based on charge transfer and energy band change is proposed to explain this observed performance. To suppress the negative effects of surface defect states and atmospheric molecules, new InAs NW photodetectors with a half-wrapped top-gate had been fabricated by using 10 nm HfO2 as the top-gate dielectric.

High‐Responsivity Graphene/InAs Nanowire Heterojunction Near‐Infrared Photodetectors with Distinct Photocurrent On/Off Ratios

Graphene is a promising candidate material for high-speed and ultra-broadband photodetectors. However, graphene-based photodetectors suffer from low photoreponsivity and I(light)/I(dark) ratios due to their negligible-gap nature and small optical absorption. Here, a new type of graphene/InAs nanowire (NW) vertically stacked heterojunction infrared photodetector is reported, with a large photoresponsivity of 0.5 AW(-1) and I(light)/I(dark) ratio of 5 × 10(2), while the photoresponsivity and I(light)/I(dark) ratio of graphene infrared photodetectors are 0.1 mAW(-1) and 1, respectively. The Fermi level (E(F)) of graphene can be widely tuned by the gate voltage owing to its 2D nature. As a result, the back-gated bias can modulate the Schottky barrier (SB) height at the interface between graphene and InAs NWs. Simulations further demonstrate the rectification behavior of graphene/InAs NW heterojunctions and the tunable SB controls charge transport across the vertically stacked heterostructure. The results address key challenges for graphene-based infrared detectors, and are promising for the development of graphene electronic and optoelectronic applications.

Distinct Photocurrent Response of Individual GaAs Nanowires Induced by n-Type Doping

The doping-dependent photoconductive properties of individual GaAs nanowires have been studied by conductive atomic force microscopy. Linear responsivity against the bias voltage is observed for moderate n-doped GaAs wires with a Schottky contact under illumination, while that of the undoped ones exhibits a saturated response. The carrier lifetime of a single nanowire can be obtained by simulating the characteristic photoelectric behavior. Consistent with the photoluminescence results, the significant drop of minority hole lifetime, from several hundred to subpicoseconds induced by n-type doping, leads to the distinct photoconductive features. Moreover, by comparing with the photoelectric behavior of AlGaAs shelled nanowires, the equivalent recombination rate of carriers at the surface is assessed to be >1 × 10(12) s(-1) for 2 × 10(17)cm(-3) n-doped bare nanowires, nearly 30 times higher than that of the doping-related bulk effects. This work suggests that intentional doping in nanowires could change the charge status of the surface states and impose significant impact on the electrical and photoelectrical performances of semiconductor nanostructures.

High-Polarization-Discriminating Infrared Detection Using a Single Quantum Well Sandwiched in Plasmonic Micro-Cavity

Polarimetric imaging has proved its value in medical diagnostics, bionics, remote sensing, astronomy, and in many other wide fields. Pixel-level solid monolithically integrated polarimetric imaging photo-detectors are the trend for infrared polarimetric imaging devices. For better polarimetric imaging performance the high polarization discriminating detectors are very much critical. Here we demonstrate the high infrared light polarization resolving capabilities of a quantum well (QW) detector in hybrid structure of single QW and plasmonic micro-cavity that uses QW as an active structure in the near field regime of plasmonic effect enhanced cavity, in which the photoelectric conversion in such a plasmonic micro-cavity has been realized. The detectors extinction ratio reaches 65 at the wavelength of 14.7 μm, about 6 times enhanced in such a type of pixel-level polarization long wave infrared photodetectors. The enhancement mechanism is attributed to artificial plasmonic modulation on optical propagation and distribution in the plasmonic micro-cavities.

Quality of epitaxial InAs nanowires controlled by catalyst size in molecular beam epitaxy

In this study, the structural quality of Au-catalyzed InAs nanowires grown by molecular beam epitaxy is investigated. Through detailed electron microscopy characterizations and analysis of binary Au-In phase diagram, it is found that defect-free InAs nanowires can be induced by smaller catalysts with a high In concentration, while comparatively larger catalysts containing less In induce defected InAs nanowires. This study indicates that the structural quality of InAs nanowires can be controlled by the size of Au catalysts when other growth conditions remain as constants.

Catalyst Orientation-Induced Growth of Defect-Free Zinc-Blende Structured ⟨001̅⟩ InAs Nanowires

In this study, we demonstrate the epitaxial growth of ⟨001̅⟩ defect-free zinc-blende structured InAs nanowires on GaAs {111}B substrate using Au catalysts in molecular beam epitaxy. It has been found that the catalysts and their underlying ⟨001̅⟩ nanowires have the orientation relationship of {11̅03}C//{002̅}InAs and [3̅302]C//[11̅0]InAs due to their small in-plane lattice mismatches between their corresponding lattice spacings perpendicular to the {001̅} atomic planes of the nanowires, leading to the formation of the {001̅} catalyst/nanowire interfaces, and consequently the formation of ⟨001̅⟩ nanowires. This study provides a practical approach to manipulate the crystal structure and structural quality of III-V nanowires through carefully controlling the crystal phase of the catalysts.

Structure and quality controlled growth of InAs nanowires through catalyst engineering

AbstractIn this study, the structure and quality controlled growth of InAs nanowires using Au catalysts in a molecular beam epitaxy reactor is presented. By tuning the indium concentration in the catalyst, defect-free wurtzite structure and defect-free zinc blende structure InAs nanowires can be induced. It is found that these defect-free zinc blende structure InAs nanowires grow along

Au impact on GaAs epitaxial growth on GaAs (111)B substrates in molecular beam epitaxy

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Orientation Dependence of Electromechanical Characteristics of Defect-free InAs Nanowires.

directions with four low-energy {111} and two {110} side-wall facets and adopt the

Laser induced modification and ablation of InAs nanowires

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