Enhanced minority carrier lifetimes in GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires through shell growth optimization

Sub-Picosecond Carrier Dynamics Explored using Automated High-Throughput Studies of Doping Inhomogeneity within a Bayesian Framework

Bottom-up production of semiconductor nanomaterials is often accompanied by inhomogeneity resulting in a spread in electronic properties which may be influenced by the nanoparticle geometry, crystal quality, stoichiometry, or doping. Using photoluminescence spectroscopy of a population of more than 11 000 individual zinc-doped gallium arsenide nanowires, inhomogeneity is revealed in, and correlation between doping and nanowire diameter by use of a Bayesian statistical approach. Recombination of hot-carriers is shown to be responsible for the photoluminescence lineshape; by exploiting lifetime variation across the population, hot-carrier dynamics is revealed at the sub-picosecond timescale showing interband electronic dynamics. High-throughput spectroscopy together with a Bayesian approach are shown to provide unique insight in an inhomogeneous nanomaterial population, and can reveal electronic dynamics otherwise requiring complex pump-probe experiments in highly non-equilibrium conditions.

Wafer-scale integration of GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires on silicon by the single process of self-catalyzed molecular beam epitaxy

GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires, typically having 250 nm diameter and 6 μm length, were grown on 2-inch Si wafers by the single process of molecular beam epitaxy using constituent Ga-induced self-catalysed vapor-liquid-solid growth. The growth was carried out without specific pre-treatment such as film deposition, patterning, and etching. The outermost Al-rich AlGaAs shells form a native oxide surface protection layer, which provides efficient passivation with elongated carrier lifetime. The 2-inch Si substrate sample exhibits a dark-colored feature due to the light absorption of the nanowires where the reflectance in the visible wavelengths is less than 2%. Homogeneous and optically luminescent and adsorptive GaAs-related core-shell nanowires were prepared over the wafer, showing the prospect for large-volume III-V heterostructure devices available with this approach as complementary device technologies for integration with silicon.

Monolithic lateral p-n junction GaAs nanowire diodes via selective lateral epitaxy

Semiconductor p-n junctions are essential building blocks of electronic and optoelectronic devices. Although vertical p-n junction structures can be formed readily by growing in sequence, lateral p-n junctions normal to surface direction can only be formed on specially patterned substrates or by post-growth implantation of one type of dopant while protecting the oppositely doped side. In this study, we report the monolithic formation of lateral p-n junctions in GaAs nanowires (NWs) on a planar substrate sequentially through the Au-assisted vapor-liquid-solid selective lateral epitaxy using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. p-type and n-type segments are formed by modulating the gas phase flow of p-type (diethylzinc) and n-type (disilane) precursorsin situduring nanowire growth, allowing independent sequential control of p- and n-doping levels self-aligned in-plane in a single growth run. The p-n junctions formed are electrically characterized by fabricating arrays of p-n junction NW diodes with coplanar ohmic metal contacts and two-terminalI-Vmeasurements. The lateral p-n diode exhibits a 2.15 ideality factor and a rectification ratio of ∼10⁶. The electron beam-induced current measurement confirms the junction position. The extracted minority carrier diffusion length is much higher compared to those previously reported, suggesting a low surface recombination velocity in these lateral NWp-n diodes.

In situpassivation of GaxIn(1-x)P nanowires using radial AlyIn(1-y)P shells grown by MOVPE

Ga_xIn_(1-x)P nanowires with suitable bandgap (1.35-2.26 eV) ranging from the visible to near-infrared wavelength have great potential in optoelectronic applications. Due to the large surface-to-volume ratio of nanowires, the surface states become a pronounced factor affecting device performance. In this work, we performed a systematic study of Ga_xIn_(1-x)P nanowires' surface passivation, utilizing Al_yIn_(1-y)P shells grownin situby using a metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy system. Time-resolved photoinduced luminescence and time-resolved THz spectroscopy measurements were performed to study the nanowires' carrier recombination processes. Compared to the bare Ga_0.41In_0.59P nanowires without shells, the hole and electron lifetime of the nanowires with the Al_0.36In_0.64P shells are found to be larger by 40 and 1.1 times, respectively, demonstrating effective surface passivation of trap states. When shells with higher Al composition were grown, both lifetimes of free holes and electrons decreased prominently. We attribute the acceleration of PL decay to an increase in the trap states' density due to the formation of defects, including the polycrystalline and oxidized amorphous areas in these samples. Furthermore, in a separate set of samples, we varied the shell thickness. We observed that a certain shell thickness of approximately ∼20 nm is needed for efficient passivation of Ga_0.31In_0.69P nanowires. The photoconductivity of the sample with a shell thickness of 23 nm decays 10 times slower compared with that of the bare core nanowires. We concluded that both the hole and electron trapping and the overall charge recombination in Ga_xIn_(1-x)P nanowires can be substantially passivated through growing an Al_yIn_(1-y)P shell with appropriate Al composition and thickness. Therefore, we have developed an effectivein situsurface passivation of Ga_xIn_(1-x)P nanowires by use of Al_yIn_(1-y)P shells, paving the way to high-performance Ga_xIn_(1-x)P nanowires optoelectronic devices.

Measuring, controlling and exploiting heterogeneity in optoelectronic nanowires

Fabricated from ZnO, III-N, chalcogenide-based, III-V, hybrid perovskite or other materials, semiconductor nanowires offer single-element and array functionality as photovoltaic, non-linear, electroluminescent and lasing components. In many applications their advantageous properties emerge from their geometry; a high surface-to-volume ratio for facile access to carriers, wavelength-scale dimensions for waveguiding or a small nanowire-substrate footprint enabling heterogeneous growth. However, inhomogeneity during bottom-up growth is ubiquitous and can impact morphology, geometry, crystal structure, defect density, heterostructure dimensions and ultimately functional performance. In this topical review, we discuss the origin and impact of heterogeneity within and between optoelectronic nanowires, and introduce methods to assess, optimise and ultimately exploit wire-to-wire disorder.

Facet-Related Non-uniform Photoluminescence in Passivated GaAs Nanowires

The semiconductor nanowire architecture provides opportunities for non-planar electronics and optoelectronics arising from its unique geometry. This structure gives rise to a large surface area-to-volume ratio and therefore understanding the effect of nanowire surfaces on nanowire optoelectronic properties is necessary for engineering related devices. We present a systematic study of the non-uniform optical properties of Au-catalyzed GaAs/AlGaAs core–shell nanowires introduced by changes in the sidewall faceting. Significant variation in intra-wire photoluminescence (PL) intensity and PL lifetime (τ_PL) was observed along the nanowire axis, which was strongly correlated with the variation of sidewall facets from {112} to {110} from base to tip. Faster recombination occurred in the vicinity of {112}-oriented GaAs/AlGaAs interfaces. An alternative nanowire heterostructure, the radial quantum well tube consisting of a GaAs layer sandwiched between two AlGaAs barrier layers, is proposed and demonstrates superior uniformity of PL emission along the entire length of nanowires. The results emphasize the significance of nanowire facets and provide important insights for nanowire device design.

Ultrafast carrier relaxation dynamics of photoexcited GaAs and GaAs/AlGaAs nanowire array

Femtosecond optical pump-probe spectroscopy is employed to elucidate the ultrafast carrier nonradiative relaxation dynamics of bare GaAs and a core-shell GaAs/AlGaAs semiconductor nanowire array. Different from the single nanowire conventionally used for the study of ultrafast dynamics, a simple spin coating and peeling off method was performed to prepare transparent organic films containing a vertical oriented nanowire array for transient absorption measurement. The transient experiment provides the direct observation of carrier thermalization, carrier cooling, thermal dissipation and band-gap energy evolutions along with the carrier relaxations. Carrier thermalization occurs within sub-0.5 ps and proceeds almost independently on the AlGaAs-coating, while the time constants of carrier cooling and thermal dissipation are increased by an order of magnitude due to the AlGaAs-coating effect. The concomitant band-gap evolutions in GaAs and GaAs/AlGaAs include an initial rapid red-shift in thermalization period, followed by a slow blue and/or red shift in carrier cooling, and then by an even slower blue shift in thermal dissipation. The evolution is explained by the competition of band-gap renormalization, plasma screening and band-filling. These findings are significant for understanding the basic physics of carrier scattering, and also for the development of flexible optoelectronic devices.

Engineering III-V Semiconductor Nanowires for Device Applications

III-V semiconductor nanowires offer potential new device applications because of the unique properties associated with their 1D geometry and the ability to create quantum wells and other heterostructures with a radial and an axial geometry. Here, an overview of challenges in the bottom-up approaches for nanowire synthesis using catalyst and catalyst-free methods and the growth of axial and radial heterostructures is given. The work on nanowire devices such as lasers, light emitting nanowires, and solar cells and an overview of the top-down approaches for water splitting technologies is reviewed. The authors conclude with an analysis of the research field and the future research directions.

Heterostructure and Q-factor engineering for low-threshold and persistent nanowire lasing

Continuous room temperature nanowire lasing from silicon-integrated optoelectronic elements requires careful optimisation of both the lasing cavity Q-factor and population inversion conditions. We apply time-gated optical interferometry to the lasing emission from high-quality GaAsP/GaAs quantum well nanowire laser structures, revealing high Q-factors of 1250 ± 90 corresponding to end-facet reflectivities of R = 0.73 ± 0.02. By using optimised direct-indirect band alignment in the active region, we demonstrate a well-refilling mechanism providing a quasi-four-level system leading to multi-nanosecond lasing and record low room temperature lasing thresholds (~6 μJ cm-2 pulse-1) for III-V nanowire lasers. Our findings demonstrate a highly promising new route towards continuously operating silicon-integrated nanolaser elements.

Carrier Recombination in the Base, Interior, and Surface of InAs/InAlAs Core-Shell Nanowires Grown on Silicon

We report on carrier recombination within self-catalyzed InAs/InAlAs core-shell nanowires (NWs), disentangling recombination rates at the ends, sidewalls, and interior of the NWs. Ultrafast optical pump-probe spectroscopy measurements were performed from 77-293 K on the free-standing, variable-sized NWs grown on lattice-mismatched Si(111) substrates, independently varying NW length and diameter. We found NW carrier recombination in the interior is nontrivial compared to the surface recombination, especially at 293 K. Surface recombination is dominated by carrier recombination at the NW sidewall, while contributions from the highly strained, impure NW base are negligible.

Unexpected benefits of stacking faults on the electronic structure and optical emission in wurtzite GaAs/GaInP core/shell nanowires

Wurtzite (WZ) GaAs nanowires (NWs) are of considerable interest for novel optoelectronic applications, yet high quality NWs are still under development. Understanding of their polytypic crystal structure and band structure is the key to improving their emission characteristics. In this work we report that the Ga1-xInxP shell provides ideal passivation on polytypic WZ GaAs NWs, producing high quantum efficiency (up to 80%). From optical measurements, we find that the polytypic nature of the NWs which presents itself as planar defects does not reduce the emission efficiency. A hole transferring approach from the valence band of the zinc blende segments to the light hole (LH) band of the WZ phase is proposed to explain the emission enhancement from the conduction band to LH band. The emission intensity does not correlate to the minority carrier lifetime which is usually used to quantify the optical emission quality. Theoretical calculation predicted type-II band transition in polytypic WZ GaAs NWs is confirmed and presents efficient emission at low temperatures. We further demonstrate the performance of single NW photodetectors with a high photocurrent responsivity up to 65 A W-1 operating over the wavelength range from visible to near infrared.

Epitaxial GaAs/AlGaAs core-multishell nanowires with enhanced photoluminescence lifetime

The modulation of complex GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowire heterostructures by the process of embedding GaAs quantum wells or AlGaAs quantum dots is feasible due to their minor lattice mismatch. In this study, we have grown GaAs/AlGaAs core-multishell nanowire heterostructures by molecular beam epitaxy and investigated their structural and optical characteristics. Our advanced electron microscopy investigations confirmed that we have grown wurtzite-structured GaAs/AlGaAs core-multishell nanowires, in which the AlGaAs inner-shell with a high Al concentration acts as a quantum barrier for the GaAs nanowire core and AlGaAs outer-shell. Photoluminescence measurements show that this unique nanowire heterostructure has a significantly increased carrier lifetime compared to the conventional GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowire heterostructures. The observed prolonged carrier lifetime can be attributed to the increased electron confinement at the core-inner-shell interface and thus the delayed recombination of photoexcited electron-hole pairs. This study provides a possible design of nanowire heterostructures for high-efficiency optoelectronic devices.

Contactless Optical Characterization of Carrier Dynamics in Free-Standing InAs-InAlAs Core-Shell Nanowires on Silicon

Contactless time-resolved optical pump-probe and external quantum efficiency measurements were performed in epitaxially grown free-standing wurtzite indium arsenide/indium aluminum arsenide (InAs-InAlAs) core-shell nanowires on Si (111) substrate from 77 to 293 K. The first independent investigation of Shockley-Read-Hall, radiative, and Auger recombination in InAs-based NWs is presented. Although the Shockley-Read-Hall recombination coefficient was found to be at least 2 orders of magnitude larger than the average experimental values of other reported InAs materials, the Auger recombination coefficient was reported to be 10-fold smaller. The very low Auger and high radiative rates result in an estimated peak internal quantum efficiency of the core-shell nanowires as high as 22% at 77 K, making these nanowires of potential interest for high-efficiency mid-infrared emitters. A greater than 2-fold enhancement in minority carrier lifetime was observed from capping nanowires with a thin InAlAs shell due to the passivation of surface defects.

Optical Study of p-Doping in GaAs Nanowires for Low-Threshold and High-Yield Lasing

Semiconductor nanowires suffer from significant non-radiative surface recombination; however, heavy p-type doping has proven to be a viable option to increase the radiative recombination rate and, hence, quantum efficiency of emission, allowing the demonstration of room-temperature lasing. Using a large-scale optical technique, we have studied Zn-doped GaAs nanowires to understand and quantify the effect of doping on growth and lasing properties. We measure the non-radiative recombination rate ( k_nr) to be (0.14 ± 0.04) ps^-1 by modeling the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) as a function of doping level. By applying a correlative method, we identify doping and nanowire length as key controllable parameters determining lasing behavior, with reliable room-temperature lasing occurring for p ≳ 3 × 10¹⁸ cm^-3 and lengths of ≳4 μm. We report a best-in-class core-only near-infrared nanowire lasing threshold of ∼10 μJ cm^-2, and using a data-led filtering step, we present a method to simply identify subsets of nanowires with over 90% lasing yield.

A three-dimensional insight into correlation between carrier lifetime and surface recombination velocity for nanowires

The performance of nanowire-based devices is predominantly affected by nonradiative recombination on their surfaces, or sidewalls, due to large surface-to-volume ratios. A common approach to quantitatively characterize surface recombination is to implement time-resolved photoluminescence to correlate surface recombination velocity with measured minority carrier lifetime by a conventional analytical equation. However, after using numerical simulations based on a three-dimensional (3D) transient model, we assert that the correlation between minority carrier lifetime and surface recombination velocity is dependent on a more complex combination of factors, including nanowire geometry, energy-band alignment, and spatial carrier diffusion in 3D. To demonstrate this assertion, we use three cases-GaAs nanowires, InGaAs nanowires, and InGaAs inserts embedded in GaAs nanowires-and numerically calculate the carrier lifetimes by varying the surface recombination velocities. Using this information, we then investigate the intrinsic carrier dynamics within those 3D structures. We argue that the conventional analytical approach to determining surface recombination in nanowires is of limited applicability, and that a comprehensive computation in 3D can provide more accurate analysis. Our study provides a solid theoretical foundation to further understand surface characteristics and carrier dynamics for 3D nanostructured materials.

Enhancement of radiation tolerance in GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell and InP nanowires

Radiation effects on semiconductor nanowires (NWs) have attracted the attention of the research community due to their potential applications in space and atomic fields. The effective implementation of NW devices in a radiation environment is a matter of concern. Here, the photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL (TRPL) measurements were performed on both GaAs and InP NWs at room temperature before and after 1 MeV H⁺ irradiation with fluences ranging from 1 × 10¹¹ to 5 × 10¹³ p cm^-2. It is found that the degradation of lifetime is size-dependent, and typically the minority carrier lifetime damage coefficient is closely correlated with the material and NW diameter. Compared to GaAs and InP bulk material counterparts, the lifetime damage coefficient of NWs decreases by a factor of about one order of magnitude. After irradiation, GaAs NWs with a smaller diameter show a much lower lifetime damage coefficient while InP NWs show an increase in carrier radiative lifetime. The increased size-dependent radiation hardness is mainly attributed to the defect sink effect and/or the improvement of a room temperature dynamic annealing mechanism of the NWs. The InP NWs also showed higher radiation tolerance than GaAs NWs.

Exploring time-resolved photoluminescence for nanowires using a three-dimensional computational transient model

Time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) has been implemented experimentally to measure the carrier lifetime of semiconductors for decades. For the characterization of nanowires, the rich information embedded in TRPL curves has not been fully interpreted and meaningfully mapped to the respective material properties. This is because their three-dimensional (3-D) geometries result in more complicated mechanisms of carrier recombination than those in thin films and analytical solutions cannot be found for those nanostructures. In this work, we extend the intrinsic power of TRPL by developing a full 3-D transient model, which accounts for different material properties and drift-diffusion, to simulate TRPL curves for nanowires. To show the capability of the model, we perform TRPL measurements on a set of GaAs nanowire arrays grown on silicon substrates and then fit the measured data by tuning various material properties, including carrier mobility, Shockley-Read-Hall recombination lifetime, and surface recombination velocity at the GaAs-Si heterointerface. From the resultant TRPL simulations, we numerically identify the lifetime characteristics of those material properties. In addition, we computationally map the spatial and temporal electron distributions in nanowire segments and reveal the underlying carrier dynamics. We believe this study provides a theoretical foundation for interpretation of TRPL measurements to unveil the complex carrier recombination mechanisms in 3-D nanostructured materials.

Time-resolved photoluminescence characterization of GaAs nanowire arrays on native substrate

Time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements of nanowires (NWs) are often carried out on broken-off NWs in order to avoid the ensemble effects as well as substrate contribution. However, the development of NW-array solar cells could benefit from non-destructive optical characterization to allow faster feedback and further device processing. With this work, we show that different NW array and substrate spectral behaviors with delay time and excitation power can be used to determine which part of the sample dominates the detected spectrum. Here, we evaluate TRPL characterization of dense periodic as-grown GaAs NW arrays on a p-type GaAs substrate, including a sample with uncapped GaAs NWs and several samples passivated with AlGaAs radial shell of varied composition and thickness. We observe a strong spectral overlap of substrate and NW signals and find that the NWs can absorb part of the substrate luminescence signal, thus resulting in a modified substrate signal. The level of absorption depends on the NW-array geometry, making a deconvolution of the NW signal very difficult. By studying TRPL of substrate-only and as-grown NWs at 770 and 400 nm excitation wavelengths, we find a difference in spectral behavior with delay time and excitation power that can be used to assess whether the signal is dominated by the NWs. We find that the NW signal dominates with 400 nm excitation wavelength, where we observe two different types of excitation power dependence for the NWs capped with high and low Al composition shells. Finally, from the excitation power dependence of the peak TRPL signal, we extract an estimate of background carrier concentration in the NWs.

Radiation effects on GaAs/AlGaAs core/shell ensemble nanowires and nanowire infrared photodetectors

With the recent advances in nanowire (NW) growth and fabrication, there has been rapid development and application of GaAs NWs in optoelectronics. It is also of importance to study the radiation tolerance of optoelectronic nano-devices for atomic energy and space-based applications. Here, photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements were carried out on GaAs/AlGaAs core/shell NWs at room temperature before and after 1 MeV proton irradiation with fluences ranging from 1.0 × 10¹²-3.0 × 10¹³ cm^-2. It is found that the GaAs/AlGaAs core/shell NWs with smaller diameter show much less PL degradation compared with the ones with larger diameters. The increased radiation hardness is mainly attributed to the improvement of a room temperature dynamic-annealing mechanism near the surface of the NWs. We also found that the minority carrier lifetime is closely related to both the PL intensity and defect density induced by irradiation. Finally, GaAs/AlGaAs ensemble NW photodetectors operating in the near-infrared spectral regime have been demonstrated. The influence of proton irradiation on light and dark current characteristics also indicates that NW structures are a good potential candidate for radiation harsh-environment applications.

Modeling of the growth of GaAs-AlGaAs core-shell nanowires

Heterostructured GaAs-AlGaAs core-shell nanowires with have attracted much attention because of their significant advantages and great potential for creating high performance nanophotonics and nanoelectronics. The spontaneous formation of Al-rich stripes along certain crystallographic directions and quantum dots near the apexes of the shell are observed in AlGaAs shells. Controlling the formation of these core-shell heterostructures remains challenging. A two-dimensional model valid on the wire cross section, that accounts for capillarity in the faceted surface limit and deposition has been developed for the evolution of the shell morphology and concentration in Al _x Ga_1-x As alloys. The model includes a completely faceted shell-vapor interface. The objective is to understand the mechanisms of the formation of the radial heterostructures (Al-rich stripes and Al-poor quantum dots) in the nanowire shell. There are two issues that need to be understood. One is the mechanism responsible for the morphological evolution of the shells. Analysis and simulation results suggest that deposition introduces facets not present on the equilibrium Wulff shapes. A balance between diffusion and deposition yields the small facets with sizes varying slowly over time, which yield stripe structures, whereas deposition-dominated growth can lead to quantum-dot structures observed in experiments. There is no self-limiting facet size in this case. The other issue is the mechanism responsible for the segregation of Al atoms in the shells. It is found that the mobility difference of the atoms on the {112} and {110} facets together determine the non-uniform concentration of the atoms in the shell. In particular, even though the mobility of Al on {110} facets is smaller than that of Ga, Al-rich stripes are predicted to form along the {112} facets when the difference of the mobilities of Al and Ga atoms is sufficiently large on {112} facets. As the size of the shell increases, deposition becomes more important. The Al-poor dots are obtained at the apices of {112} facets, if the attachment rate of Al atoms is smaller there.

Controlling the exciton emission of gold coated GaAs-AlGaAs core-shell nanowires with an organic spacer layer

Excitons are the most prominent optical excitations and controlling their emission is an important step towards new optical devices. We have investigated the exciton emission from uncoated and gold/aluminum quinoline (Alq₃) coated GaAs-AlGaAs-GaAs core-shell nanowires (NWs) using temperature-, intensity- and polarization dependent photoluminescence (PL). Plasmonic GaAs-AlGaAs-GaAs NWs with a ∼10 nm thick Au coating but without an Alq₃ spacer layer reveal a significant reduction of the PL intensity of the exciton emission compared with the uncoated NW sample. Plasmonic NW samples with the same nominal Au coverage and an additional Alq₃ interlayer of 3 or 6 nm thickness show a clearly stronger PL intensity which increases with rising Alq₃ spacer thickness. Time-resolved (TR) PL measurements reveal an increase of the exciton decay rate by a factor of up to two with decreasing Alq₃ spacer thickness suggesting the presence of Förster energy transfer from NW excitons to plasmon oscillations in the gold film. The weak change of the decay time, however, indicates that Förster energy-transfer is only partially responsible for the PL quenching in the gold coated NWs. The main reason for the reduction of the PL emission is attributed to a gold induced band-bending in the GaAs NW core which causes exciton dissociation. With increasing Alq₃ spacer thickness the band-bending decreases leading to a reduction of the exciton dissociation and PL quenching. Our interpretation is supported by electron energy loss spectroscopy measurements which show a signal reduction and blue shift of defect (possibly EL2) transitions when gold particles are deposited on NWs compared with bare or Alq₃ coated NWs.

Recombination dynamics in aerotaxy-grown Zn-doped GaAs nanowires

In this paper we have investigated the dynamics of photo-generated charge carriers in a series of aerotaxy-grown GaAs nanowires (NWs) with different levels of Zn doping. Time-resolved photo-induced luminescence and transient absorption have been employed to investigate radiative (band edge transition) and non-radiative charge recombination processes, respectively. We find that the photo-luminescence (PL) lifetime of intrinsic GaAs NWs is significantly increased after growing an AlGaAs shell over them, indicating that an AlGaAs shell can effectively passivate the surface of aerotaxy-grown GaAs NWs. We observe that PL decay time as well as PL intensity decrease with increasing Zn doping, which can be attributed to thermally activated electron trapping with the trap density increased due to the Zn doping level.

Broadband Phase-Sensitive Single InP Nanowire Photoconductive Terahertz Detectors

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has emerged as a powerful tool for materials characterization and imaging. A trend toward size reduction, higher component integration, and performance improvement for advanced THz-TDS systems is of increasing interest. The use of single semiconducting nanowires for terahertz (THz) detection is a nascent field that has great potential to realize future highly integrated THz systems. In order to develop such components, optimized material optoelectronic properties and careful device design are necessary. Here, we present antenna-optimized photoconductive detectors based on single InP nanowires with superior properties of high carrier mobility (∼1260 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) and low dark current (∼10 pA), which exhibit excellent sensitivity and broadband performance. We demonstrate that these nanowire THz detectors can provide high quality time-domain spectra for materials characterization in a THz-TDS system, a critical step toward future application in advanced THz-TDS system with high spectral and spatial resolution.

Determination of the Optimal Shell Thickness for Self-Catalyzed GaAs/AlGaAs Core-Shell Nanowires on Silicon

We present a set of experimental results showing a combination of various effects, that is, surface recombination velocity, surface charge traps, strain, and structural defects, that govern the carrier dynamics of self-catalyzed GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires (NWs) grown on a Si(111) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. Time-resolved photoluminescence of NW ensemble and spatially resolved cathodoluminescence of single NWs reveal that emission intensity, decay time, and carrier diffusion length of the GaAs NW core strongly depend on the AlGaAs shell thickness but in a nonmonotonic fashion. Although 7 nm AlGaAs shell can efficiently suppress the surface recombination velocity of the GaAs NW core, the influence of the surface charge traps and the strain between the core and the shell that redshift the luminescence of the GaAs NW core remain observable in the whole range of the shell thickness. In addition, the band bending effect induced by the surface charge traps can alter the scattering of the excess carriers inside the GaAs NW core at the core/shell interface. If the AlGaAs shell thickness is larger than 50 nm, the luminescence efficiency of the GaAs NW cores deteriorates, ascribed to defect formation inside the AlGaAs shell evidenced by transmission electron microscopy.

Thermal Delocalization of Excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Well Tube Nanowires

We use temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence imaging, and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements to gain insights into the localization of excitons in single 2 nm GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well tube nanowires. PL spectra reveal the coexistence of localized and delocalized states at low temperatures, with narrow quantum dot-like emission lines on the high energy side of a broad emission band, and delocalized states on the low energy side. We find that the high energy QD-like emissions are metastable, disappearing at higher temperatures with only delocalized states (quantum well tube ground states) surviving. By comparing temperature- and time-dependent PL, we develop a theoretical model which provides insights into the confinement potentials and relaxation dynamics which localize the excitons in these quantum well tube nanowires.

Radial Nanowire Light-Emitting Diodes in the (AlxGa1-x)yIn1-yP Material System

Nanowires have the potential to play an important role for next-generation light-emitting diodes. In this work, we present a growth scheme for radial nanowire quantum-well structures in the AlGaInP material system using a GaInP nanowire core as a template for radial growth with GaInP as the active layer for emission and AlGaInP as charge carrier barriers. The different layers were analyzed by X-ray diffraction to ensure lattice-matched radial structures. Furthermore, we evaluated the material composition and heterojunction interface sharpness by scanning transmission electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The electro-optical properties were investigated by injection luminescence measurements. The presented results can be a valuable track toward radial nanowire light-emitting diodes in the AlGaInP material system in the red/orange/yellow color spectrum.

Low ensemble disorder in quantum well tube nanowires

We have observed very low disorder in high quality quantum well tubes (QWT) in GaAs-Al(0.4)Ga(0.6)As core-multishell nanowires. Room-temperature photoluminescence spectra were measured from 150 single nanowires enabling a full statistical analysis of both intra- and inter-nanowire disorder. By modelling individual nanowire spectra, we assigned a quantum well tube thickness, a core disorder parameter and a QWT disorder parameter to each nanowire. A strong correlation was observed between disorder in the GaAs cores and disorder in the GaAs QWTs, which indicates that variations in core morphology effectively propagate to the shell layers. This highlights the importance of high quality core growth prior to shell deposition. Furthermore, variations in QWT thicknesses for different facet directions was found to be a likely cause of intra-wire disorder, highlighting the need for accurate shell growth.

Lithography-free oxide patterns as templates for self-catalyzed growth of highly uniform GaAs nanowires on Si(111)

We report self-catalyzed growth of GaAs nanowires (NWs) on Si/SiOx patterns fabricated by a lithography-free method. The patterns are defined using droplet epitaxy of GaAs nanocrystals, spontaneous oxidation, and thermal annealing. We investigate the influence of the size and density of the nucleation sites on the NW growth process and show that this approach enables the fabrication of highly uniform GaAs NWs with controllable density. The pattern fabrication and NW growth process are studied and discussed in relation to the surface morphology and chemical properties of the Si/SiOx patterns. Furthermore, the optical quality of the NWs is investigated by photoluminescence experiments performed for GaAs–AlGaAs core–shell NWs.

InAs/GaAs Sharply Defined Axial Heterostructures in Self-Assisted Nanowires

We present the fabrication of axial InAs/GaAs nanowire heterostructures on silicon with atomically sharp interfaces by molecular beam epitaxy. Our method exploits the crystallization at low temperature, by As supply, of In droplets deposited on the top of GaAs NWs grown by the self-assisted (self-catalyzed) mode. Extensive characterization based on transmission electron microscopy sets an upper limit for the InAs/GaAs interface thickness within few bilayers (≤1.5 nm). A detailed study of elastic/plastic strain relaxation at the interface is also presented, highlighting the role of nanowire lateral free surfaces.

Polarity-Driven Quasi-3-Fold Composition Symmetry of Self-Catalyzed III-V-V Ternary Core-Shell Nanowires

A quasi-3-fold composition symmetry has for the first time been observed in self-catalyzed III-V-V core-shell nanowires. In GaAsP nanowires, phosphorus-rich sheets on radial {110} planes originating at the corners of the hexagonal core were observed. In a cross section, they appear as six radial P-rich bands that originate at the six outer corners of the hexagonal core, with three of them higher in P content along ⟨112⟩A direction and others along ⟨112⟩B, forming a quasi-3-fold composition symmetry. We propose that these P-rich bands are caused by a curvature-induced high surface chemical potential at the small corner facets, which drives As adatoms away more efficiently than P adatoms. Moreover, their polarity related P content difference can be explained by the different adatom bonding energies at these polar corner facets. These results provide important information on the further development of shell growth in the self-catalyzed core-shell NW structure and, hence, device structure for multicomponent material systems.

Atomic scale surface structure and morphology of InAs nanowire crystal superlattices: the effect of epitaxial overgrowth

While shell growth engineering to the atomic scale is important for tailoring semiconductor nanowires with superior properties, a precise knowledge of the surface structure and morphology at different stages of this type of overgrowth has been lacking. We present a systematic scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of homoepitaxial shell growth of twinned superlattices in zinc blende InAs nanowires that transforms {111}A/B-type facets to the nonpolar {110}-type. STM imaging along the nanowires provides information on different stages of the shell growth revealing distinct differences in growth dynamics of the crystal facets and surface structures not found in the bulk. While growth of a new surface layer is initiated simultaneously (at the twin plane interface) on the {111}A and {111}B nanofacets, the step flow growth proceeds much faster on {111}A compared to {111}B leading to significant differences in roughness. Further, we observe that the atomic scale structures on the {111}B facet is different from its bulk counterpart and that shell growth on this facet occurs via steps perpendicular to the ⟨112⟩B-type directions.

Emergence of localized states in narrow GaAs/AlGaAs nanowire quantum well tubes

We use low-temperature photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation, and photoluminescence imaging spectroscopy to explore the optical and electronic properties of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well tube (QWT) heterostructured nanowires (NWs). We find that GaAs QWTs with widths >5 nm have electronic states which are delocalized and continuous along the length of the NW. As the NW QWT width decreases from 5 to 1.5 nm, only a single electron state is bound to the well, and no optical excitations to a confined excited state are present. Simultaneously, narrow emission lines (fwhm < 600 μeV) appear which are localized to single spatial points along the length of the NW. We find that these quantum-dot-like states broaden at higher temperatures and quench at temperatures above 80 K. The lifetimes of these localized states are observed to vary from dot to dot from 160 to 400 ps. The presence of delocalized states and then localized states as the QWTs become more confined suggests both opportunities and challenges for possible incorporation into quantum-confined device structures.

Effects of surface passivation on twin-free GaAs nanosheets

Unlike nanowires, GaAs nanosheets exhibit no twin defects, stacking faults, or dislocations even when grown on lattice mismatched substrates. As such, they are excellent candidates for optoelectronic applications, including LEDs and solar cells. We report substantial enhancements in the photoluminescence efficiency and the lifetime of passivated GaAs nanosheets produced using the selected area growth (SAG) method with metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Measurements are performed on individual GaAs nanosheets with and without an AlGaAs passivation layer. Both steady-state photoluminescence and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy are performed to study the optoelectronic performance of these nanostructures. Our results show that AlGaAs passivation of GaAs nanosheets leads to a 30- to 40-fold enhancement in the photoluminescence intensity. The photoluminescence lifetime increases from less than 30 to 300 ps with passivation, indicating an order of magnitude improvement in the minority carrier lifetime. We attribute these enhancements to the reduction of nonradiative recombination due to the compensation of surface states after passivation. The surface recombination velocity decreases from an initial value of 2.5 × 10(5) to 2.7 × 10(4) cm/s with passivation.

An order of magnitude increase in the quantum efficiency of (Al)GaAs nanowires using hybrid photonic-plasmonic modes

We demonstrate 900% relative enhancement in the quantum efficiency (QE) of surface passivated GaAs nanowires by coupling them to resonant nanocavities that support hybrid photonic-plasmonic modes. This nonconventional approach to increase the QE of GaAs nanowires results in QE enhancement over the entire nanowire volume and is not limited to the near-field of the plasmonic structure. Our cavity design enables spatially and spectrally tunable resonant modes and efficient in- and out-coupling of light from the nanowires. Furthermore, this approach is not fabrication intensive; it is scalable and can be adapted to enhance the QE of a wide range of low QE semiconductor nanostructures.

Single nanowire photoconductive terahertz detectors

Spectroscopy and imaging in the terahertz (THz) region of the electromagnetic spectrum has proven to provide important insights in fields as diverse as chemical analysis, materials characterization, security screening, and nondestructive testing. However, compact optoelectronics suited to the most powerful terahertz technique, time-domain spectroscopy, are lacking. Here, we implement single GaAs nanowires as microscopic coherent THz sensors and for the first time incorporated them into the pulsed time-domain technique. We also demonstrate the functionality of the single nanowire THz detector as a spectrometer by using it to measure the transmission spectrum of a 290 GHz low pass filter. Thus, nanowires are shown to be well suited for THz device applications and hold particular promise as near-field THz sensors.

Understanding the true shape of Au-catalyzed GaAs nanowires

With increasing interest in nanowire-based devices, a thorough understanding of the nanowire shape is required to gain tight control of the quality of nanowire heterostructures and improve the performance of related devices. We present a systematic study of the sidewalls of Au-catalyzed GaAs nanowires by investigating the faceting process from the beginning with vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) nucleation, followed by the simultaneous radial growth on the sidewalls, and to the end with sidewall transformation during annealing. The VLS nucleation interface of our GaAs nanowires is revealed by examining cross sections of the nanowire, where the nanowire exhibits a Reuleaux triangular shape with three curved surfaces along {112}A. These curved surfaces are not thermodynamically stable and adopt {112}A facets during radial growth. We observe clear differences in radial growth rate between the ⟨112⟩A and ⟨112⟩B directions with {112}B facets forming due to the slower radial growth rate along ⟨112⟩B directions. These sidewalls transform to {110} facets after high temperature (>500 °C) annealing. A nucleation model is proposed to explain the origin of the Reuleaux triangular shape of the nanowires, and the sidewall evolution is explained by surface kinetic and thermodynamic limitations.

Electron mobilities approaching bulk limits in "surface-free" GaAs nanowires

Achieving bulk-like charge carrier mobilities in semiconductor nanowires is a major challenge facing the development of nanowire-based electronic devices. Here we demonstrate that engineering the GaAs nanowire surface by overcoating with optimized AlGaAs shells is an effective means of obtaining exceptionally high carrier mobilities and lifetimes. We performed measurements of GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires using optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy: a noncontact and accurate probe of carrier transport on ultrafast time scales. The carrier lifetimes and mobilities both improved significantly with increasing AlGaAs shell thickness. Remarkably, optimized GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires exhibited electron mobilities up to 3000 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), reaching over 65% of the electron mobility typical of high quality undoped bulk GaAs at equivalent photoexcited carrier densities. This points to the high interface quality and the very low levels of ionized impurities and lattice defects in these nanowires. The improvements in mobility were concomitant with drastic improvements in photoconductivity lifetime, reaching 1.6 ns. Comparison of photoconductivity and photoluminescence dynamics indicates that midgap GaAs surface states, and consequently surface band-bending and depletion, are effectively eliminated in these high quality heterostructures.

Selective-area epitaxy of pure wurtzite InP nanowires: high quantum efficiency and room-temperature lasing

We report the growth of stacking-fault-free and taper-free wurtzite InP nanowires with diameters ranging from 80 to 600 nm using selective-area metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy and experimentally determine a quantum efficiency of ∼50%, which is on par with InP epilayers. We also demonstrate room-temperature, photonic mode lasing from these nanowires. Their excellent structural and optical quality opens up new possibilities for both fundamental quantum optics and optoelectronic devices.

Metal-seeded growth of III-V semiconductor nanowires: towards gold-free synthesis

Semiconductor nanowires composed of III-V materials have enormous potential to add new functionality to electronics and optical applications. However, integration of these promising structures into applications is severely limited by the current near-universal reliance on gold nanoparticles as seeds for nanowire fabrication. Although highly controlled fabrication is achieved, this metal is entirely incompatible with the Si-based electronics industry. In this Feature we review the progress towards developing gold-free bottom-up synthesis techniques for III-V semiconductor nanowires. Three main categories of nanowire synthesis are discussed: selective-area epitaxy, self-seeding and foreign metal seeding, with main focus on the metal-seeded techniques. For comparison, we also review the development of foreign metal seeded synthesis of silicon and germanium nanowires. Finally, directions for future development and anticipated important trends are discussed. We anticipate significant development in the use of foreign metal seeding in particular. In addition, we speculate that multiple different techniques must be developed in order to replace gold and to provide a variety of nanowire structures and properties suited to a diverse range of applications.

Position-controlled uniform GaAs nanowires on silicon using nanoimprint lithography

We report on the epitaxial growth of large-area position-controlled self-catalyzed GaAs nanowires (NWs) directly on Si by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Nanohole patterns are defined in a SiO2 mask on 2 in. Si wafers using nanoimprint lithography (NIL) for the growth of positioned GaAs NWs. To optimize the yield of vertical NWs the MBE growth parameter space is tuned, including Ga predeposition time, Ga and As fluxes, growth temperature, and annealing treatment prior to NW growth. In addition, a non-negligible radial growth is observed with increasing growth time and is found to be independent of the As species (i.e., As2 or As4) and the growth temperatures studied. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy analysis of the GaAs NW/Si substrate heterointerface reveals an epitaxial growth where NW base fills the oxide hole opening and eventually extends over the oxide mask. These findings have important implications for NW-based device designs with axial and radial p-n junctions. Finally, NIL positioned GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell heterostructured NWs are grown on Si to study the optical properties of the NWs. Room-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy of ensembles of as-grown core-shell NWs reveals uniform and high optical quality, as required for the subsequent device applications. The combination of NIL and MBE thereby demonstrates the successful heterogeneous integration of highly uniform GaAs NWs on Si, important for fabricating high throughput, large-area position-controlled NW arrays for various optoelectronic device applications.

High mobility one- and two-dimensional electron systems in nanowire-based quantum heterostructures

Free-standing semiconductor nanowires in combination with advanced gate-architectures hold an exceptional promise as miniaturized building blocks in future integrated circuits. However, semiconductor nanowires are often corrupted by an increased number of close-by surface states, which are detrimental with respect to their optical and electronic properties. This conceptual challenge hampers their potentials in high-speed electronics and therefore new concepts are needed in order to enhance carrier mobilities. We have introduced a novel type of core-shell nanowire heterostructures that incorporate modulation or remote doping and hence may lead to high-mobility electrons. We demonstrate the validity of such concepts using inelastic light scattering to study single modulation-doped GaAs/Al0.16Ga0.84As core-multishell nanowires grown on silicon. We conclude from a detailed experimental study and theoretical analysis of the observed spin and charge density fluctuations that one- and two-dimensional electron channels are formed in a GaAs coaxial quantum well spatially separated from the donor ions. A total carrier density of about 3 × 10(7) cm(-1) and an electron mobility in the order of 50,000 cm(2)/(V s) are estimated. Spatial mappings of individual GaAs/Al0.16Ga0.84As core-multishell nanowires show inhomogeneous properties along the wires probably related to structural defects. The first demonstration of such unambiguous 1D- and 2D-electron channels and the respective charge carrier properties in these advanced nanowire-based quantum heterostructures is the basis for various novel nanoelectronic and photonic devices.