Interplay between crystal phase purity and radial growth in InP nanowires

Tailoring the Geometry of Bottom-Up Nanowires: Application to High Efficiency Single Photon Sources

For nanowire-based sources of non-classical light, the rate at which photons are generated and the ability to efficiently collect them are determined by the nanowire geometry. Using selective-area vapour-liquid-solid epitaxy, we show how it is possible to control the nanowire geometry and tailor it to optimise device performance. High efficiency single photon generation with negligible multi-photon emission is demonstrated using a quantum dot embedded in a nanowire having a geometry tailored to optimise both collection efficiency and emission rate.

Synthesis and Applications of III-V Nanowires

Low-dimensional semiconductor materials structures, where nanowires are needle-like one-dimensional examples, have developed into one of the most intensely studied fields of science and technology. The subarea described in this review is compound semiconductor nanowires, with the materials covered limited to III-V materials (like GaAs, InAs, GaP, InP,...) and III-nitride materials (GaN, InGaN, AlGaN,...). We review the way in which several innovative synthesis methods constitute the basis for the realization of highly controlled nanowires, and we combine this perspective with one of how the different families of nanowires can contribute to applications. One reason for the very intense research in this field is motivated by what they can offer to main-stream semiconductors, by which ultrahigh performing electronic (e.g., transistors) and photonic (e.g., photovoltaics, photodetectors or LEDs) technologies can be merged with silicon and CMOS. Other important aspects, also covered in the review, deals with synthesis methods that can lead to dramatic reduction of cost of fabrication and opportunities for up-scaling to mass production methods.

Simultaneous Growth of Pure Wurtzite and Zinc Blende Nanowires

The opportunity to engineer III-V nanowires in wurtzite and zinc blende crystal structure allows for exploring properties not conventionally available in the bulk form as well as opening the opportunity for use of additional degrees of freedom in device fabrication. However, the fundamental understanding of the nature of polytypism in III-V nanowire growth is still lacking key ingredients to be able to connect the results of modeling and experiments. Here we show InP nanowires of both pure wurtzite and pure zinc blende grown simultaneously on the same InP [100]-oriented substrate. We find wurtzite nanowires to grow along [Formula: see text] and zinc blende counterparts along [Formula: see text]. Further, we discuss the nucleation, growth, and polytypism of our nanowires against the background of existing theory. Our results demonstrate, first, that the crystal growth conditions for wurtzite and zinc blende nanowire growth are not mutually exclusive and, second, that the interface energies predominantly determine the crystal structure of the nanowires.

Controlled axial and radial growth of InP nanowires by metal-organic molecular beam epitaxy using the selective-area vapor-liquid-solid approach

Controlling the transition from axial to radial growth is essential for advanced III-V nanowire (NW) technology. Growth temperature and precursor flux affect this transition in a complicated manner. Here, we report on experiments designed to map the axial to radial growth transition of InP NWs prepared by the selective-area vapor-liquid-solid method during metal-organic molecular beam epitaxy. An optimized growth procedure for axial to radial switching was obtained, maintaining the pure wurtzite crystal phase of the NWs.

Growth kinetics of Ga x In(1-x)P nanowires using triethylgallium as Ga precursor

Ga _x In_(1-x)P nanowire arrays are promising for various optoelectronic applications with a tunable band-gap over a wide range. In particular, they are well suited as the top cell in tandem junction solar cell devices. So far, most Ga _x In_(1-x)P nanowires have been synthesized by the use of trimethylgallium (TMGa). However, particle assisted nanowire growth in metal organic vapor phase epitaxy is typically carried out at relatively low temperatures, where TMGa is not fully pyrolysed. In this work, we developed the growth of Ga _x In_(1-x)P nanowires using triethylgallium (TEGa) as the Ga precursor, which reduced Ga precursor consumption by about five times compared to TMGa due to the lower homogeneous pyrolysis temperature of TEGa. The versatility of TEGa is shown by synthesis of high yield Ga _x In_(1-x)P nanowire arrays, with a material composition tunable by the group III input flows, as verified by x-ray diffraction measurements and photoluminescence characterization. The growth dynamics of Ga _x In_(1-x)P nanowires was assessed by varying the input growth precursor molar fractions and growth temperature, using hydrogen-chloride as in situ etchant. We observed a complex interplay between the precursors. First, trimethylindium (TMIn) inhibits Ga incorporation into the nanowires, resulting in higher In composition in the grown nanowires than in the vapor. Second, the growth rate increases with temperature, indicating a kinetically limited growth, which from nanowire effective binary volume growth rates of InP and GaP can be attributed to the synthesis of GaP in Ga _x In_(1-x)P. We observed that phosphine has a strong effect on the nanowire growth rate with behavior expected for a unimolecular Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism of pyrolysis on a catalytic surface. However, growth rates increase strongly with both TEGa and TMIn precursors as well, indicating the complexity of vapor-liquid-solid growth for ternary materials. One precursor can affect the decomposition of another, and each precursor can affect the wetting properties and catalytic activity of the metal particle.

InP-InxGa1-xAs core-multi-shell nanowire quantum wells with tunable emission in the 1.3-1.55 μm wavelength range

The usability and tunability of the essential InP-InGaAs material combination in nanowire-based quantum wells (QWs) are assessed. The wurtzite phase core-multi-shell InP-InGaAs-InP nanowire QWs are characterised using cross-section transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence measurements. The InP-InGaAs direct interface is found to be sharp while the InGaAs-InP inverted interface is more diffused, in agreement with their planar counterpart. Bright emission is observed from the single nanowires containing the QWs at room temperature, with no emission from the InP core or outer barrier. The tunability of the QW emission wavelength in the 1.3-1.55 μm communication wavelength range is demonstrated by varying the QW thickness and in the 1.3 μm range by varying the composition. The experiments are supported by simulation of the emission wavelength of the wurtzite phase InP-InGaAs QWs in the thickness range considered. The radial heterostructure is further extended to design multiple QWs with bright emission, therefore establishing the capability of this material system for nanowire based optical devices for communication applications.

An ab initio study of the polytypism in InP

The existence of polytypism in semiconductor nanostructures gives rise to the appearance of stacking faults which many times can be treated as quantum wells. In some cases, despite of a careful growth, the polytypism can be hardly avoided. In this work, we perform an ab initio study of zincblende stacking faults in a wurtzite InP system, using the supercell approach and taking the limit of low density of narrow stacking faults regions. Our results confirm the type II band alignment between the phases, producing a reliable qualitative description of the band gap evolution along the growth axis. These results show an spacial asymmetry in the zincblende quantum wells, that is expected due to the fact that the wurtzite stacking sequence (ABAB) is part of the zincblende one (ABCABC), but with an unexpected asymmetry between the valence and the conduction bands. We also present results for the complex dielectric function, clearly showing the influence of the stacking on the homostructure values and surprisingly proving that the correspondent bulk results can be used to reproduce the polytypism even in the limit we considered.

Crystal phase control in GaAs nanowires: opposing trends in the Ga- and As-limited growth regimes

Here we demonstrate the existence of two distinct regimes for tuning crystal structure in GaAs nanowires from zinc blende to wurtzite using a single process parameter: V/III-ratio, or variation of the group V precursor flow. Extensive previous studies have shown that crystal structure is sensitive to V/III-ratio, and even that it is possible to change structure entirely using this single parameter. However, an open question has remained about whether the observed dependencies are related to growth technique or types of precursors used. Specifically, opposite trends have been reported for molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metal organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE): while wurtzite GaAs growth is reported for high nominal V/III-ratio in MBE, zinc blende GaAs is formed in MOVPE under apparently the same parameter change (increasing precursor V/III-ratio). Here we show that these observations are not necessarily contradictory, as it may first appear, by providing a consolidated picture covering all regimes in one MOVPE growth machine only. More precisely, we observe wurtzite formation for medium nominal V/III-ratios with a critical sensitivity to the balance between Ga and As supply. Slight deviations from wurtzite conditions will result in zinc blende formation for either low V/III-ratio in the As-limited regime or high V/III-ratio in the Ga-limited regime. Our observations strongly indicate that the applied growth conditions are the crucial ingredients for crystal structure control in GaAs nanowires rather than the growth technique or precursors used.

Impact of nucleation conditions on diameter modulation of GaAs nanowires

Diameter-modulated nanowires can be used to impart unique properties to nanowire-based devices. Here, diameter modulation along Au-seeded GaAs nanowires was achieved by varying the flux of the III and V precursors during growth. Furthermore, three different types of [111]B-oriented nanowires were observed to display distinct differences in diameter modulation, growth rate, and cross-sectional shape. These differences are attributed to the presence of multiple distinct Au-Ga seed particle phases at the growth temperature of 420 °C. We show that the diameter modulation behavior can be modified by the growth conditions during nanowire nucleation, including temperature, V/III ratio, substrate orientation, and seed particle size. These results demonstrate the general viability of flow-controlled diameter modulation for compound semiconductors and highlight both opportunities and challenges that can arise from using compound-forming alloys to seed nanowire growth.

In(x)Ga(1-x)As nanowires with uniform composition, pure wurtzite crystal phase and taper-free morphology

Obtaining compositional homogeneity without compromising morphological or structural quality is one of the biggest challenges in growing ternary alloy compound semiconductor nanowires. Here we report growth of Au-seeded InxGa1-xAs nanowires via metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy with uniform composition, morphology and pure wurtzite (WZ) crystal phase by carefully optimizing growth temperature and V/III ratio. We find that high growth temperatures allow the InxGa1-xAs composition to be more uniform by suppressing the formation of typically observed spontaneous In-rich shells. A low V/III ratio results in the growth of pure WZ phase InxGa1-xAs nanowires with uniform composition and morphology while a high V/III ratio allows pure zinc-blende (ZB) phase to form. Ga incorporation is found to be dependent on the crystal phase favouring higher Ga concentration in ZB phase compared to the WZ phase. Tapering is also found to be more prominent in defective nanowires hence it is critical to maintain the highest crystal structure purity in order to minimize tapering and inhomogeneity. The InP capped pure WZ In0.65Ga0.35As core-shell nanowire heterostructures show 1.54 μm photoluminescence, close to the technologically important optical fibre telecommunication wavelength, which is promising for application in photodetectors and nanoscale lasers.

Control of morphology and crystal purity of InP nanowires by variation of phosphine flux during selective area MOMBE

We present experimental results showing how the growth rate, morphology and crystal structure of Au-catalyzed InP nanowires (NWs) fabricated by selective area metal organic molecular beam epitaxy can be tuned by the growth parameters: temperature and phosphine flux. The InP NWs with 20-65 nm diameters are grown at temperatures of 420 and 480 °C with the PH3 flow varying from 1 to 9 sccm. The NW tapering is suppressed at a higher temperature, while pure wurtzite crystal structure is preferred at higher phosphine flows. Therefore, by combining high temperature and high phosphine flux, we are able to fabricate non-tapered and stacking fault-free InP NWs with the quality that other methods rarely achieve. We also develop a model for NW growth and crystal structure which explains fairly well the observed experimental tendencies.

Ultraclean emission from InAsP quantum dots in defect-free wurtzite InP nanowires

We report on the ultraclean emission from single quantum dots embedded in pure wurtzite nanowires. Using a two-step growth process combining selective-area and vapor-liquid-solid epitaxy, we grow defect-free wurtzite InP nanowires with embedded InAsP quantum dots, which are clad to diameters sufficient for waveguiding at λ ~ 950 nm. The absence of nearby traps, at both the nanowire surface and along its length in the vicinity of the quantum dot, manifests in excitonic transitions of high spectral purity. Narrow emission line widths (30 μeV) and very-pure single photon emission with a probability of multiphoton emission below 1% are achieved, both of which were not possible in previous work where stacking fault densities were significantly higher.