We have investigated photoconductive properties of single Germanium Nanowires(NWs)of diameter less than 100 nm in the spectral range of 300 to 1100 nm showing ultra large peak Responsivity in excess of 10^{7}AW^{-1}.The NWs were grown by Vapor Liquid Solid method using Au nanoparticle as catalyst. In this report we discuss the likely origin of the ultra large responsivity that may arise from a combination of various physical effects which are a): Ge and GeO_{x} interface states which act as scavengers of electrons from the photo-generated pairs,leaving the holes free to reach the electrodes,b) Schottky barrier at the metal and NW interface which gets lowered substantially due to carrier diffusion in contact region and (c) photodetector length being small (approximately few μm), negligible loss of photogenerated carriers due to recombination at defect sites. We have observed from power dependence of the optical gain that the gain is controlled by trap states. We find that the surface of the nanowire has presence of a thin layer of GeO_{x} (as evidenced from HRTEM study) which provide interface states. It is observed that these state play a crucial role to provide a radial field for separation of photogenerated electron and hole pair which in turn leads to very high effective photoconductive gain that reaches a very high at low illumination density.
Here we propose a waveguide-integrated germanium plasmonic photodetector that is based on a long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguide configuration. As this configuration ensures a long propagation distance, i.e., small absorption into metal, and a good mode field confinement, i.e., high interaction of the electric field with a germanium material, it is perfect for a realization of plasmonic germanium photodetectors. Such a photodetector even without optimization provides a responsivity exceeding 1 A/W for both wavelengths of 1310 nm and 1550 nm. To achieve such a respon…
Enhanced photocurrent is demonstrated in a junction-less photodetector with nanowires embedded in its channel. The fabricated photodetector consists of a large area for efficient absorption of incident light with energy band engineering achieved in nanowires. The structure design consists of a set of two symmetrically positioned gates, primary and secondary, that are located over the nanowires. Each gate is used for biasing and control of the charge flow. We find that detectors with narrower nanowires controlled by their secondary gate generate larger photocurrents under similar illumination c…
Using nanowires for photodetection constitutes an opportunity to enhance the absorption efficiency while reducing the electrical cross-section of the device. They present interesting features like compatibility with silicon substrates, which offers the possibility of integrating detector and readout circuitry, and facilitates their transfer to flexible substrates. Within a nanowire, it is possible to implement axial and radial (core-shell) heterostructures. These two types can be combined to obtain three-dimensional carrier confinement (dot-in-a-wire). The incorporation of heterostructures in …
Semiconducting nanowires offer many opportunities for electronic and optoelectronic device applications due to their special geometries and unique physical properties. However, it has been challenging to synthesize semiconducting nanowires directly on SiO2/Si substrate due to lattice mismatch. Here, we developed a catalysis-free approach to achieve direct synthesis of long and straight InSe nanowires on SiO2/Si substrate through edge-homoepitaxial growth. We further achieved parallel InSe nanowires on SiO2/Si substrate through controlling growth conditions. We attributed the underlying growth …
Recent development on Ge$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$ nanowires with high Sn content, beyond its solid solubility limit, make them attractive for all group-IV Si-integrated infrared photonics at nanoscale. Herein, we report a chemical vapour deposition-grown high Sn-content Ge-Ge$_{0.92}$Sn$_{0.08}$ core-shell based single nanowire photodetector operating at the optical communication wavelength of 1.55 $μ$m. The atomic concentration of Sn in nanowires has been studied using X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopy data. A metal-semiconductor-metal based single nanowire photodetector, fabricated via electro…
Nanowire photodetectors are investigated because of their compatibility with flexible electronics, or for the implementation of on-chip optical interconnects. Such devices are characterized by ultrahigh photocurrent gain, but their photoresponse scales sublinearly with the optical power. Here, we present a study of single-nanowire photodetectors displaying a linear response to ultraviolet illumination. Their structure consists of a GaN nanowire incorporating an AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructure, which generates an internal electric field. The activity of the heterostructure is confirmed by the recti…
Ultraviolet Photodetectors based on GaN and AlGaN/AlN Nanowire Ensembles: Effects of Planarization with Hydrogen Silsesquioxane and Nanowire Architecture
研究 HSQ 包封平坦化的 GaN 与 AlGaN/AlN 纳米线紫外光电探测器，揭示其钝化、应变和偏压可调光谱响应机制，并验证器件保持单纳米线级选择性且无持续光电流。
Highly sensitive photodetectors with single photon level detection is one of the key components to a range of emerging technologies, in particular the ever-growing field of optical communication, remote sensing, and quantum computing. Currently, most of the single-photon detection technologies require external biasing at high voltages and/or cooling to low temperatures, posing great limitations for wider applications. Here, we demonstrate InP nanowire array photodetectors that can achieve single-photon level light detection at room temperature without an external bias. We use top-down etched, …
Avalanche photodetectors (APDs) are key components in optical communication systems due to their increased photocurrent gain and short response time as compared to conventional photodetectors. A detector design where the multiplication region is implemented in a large bandgap material is desired to avoid detrimental Zener tunneling leakage currents, a concern otherwise in smaller bandgap materials required for absorption at 1.3/1.55 um. Self-assembled III-V semiconductor nanowires offer key advantages such as enhanced absorption due to optical resonance effects, strain-relaxed heterostructures…
Semiconductors with strong spin-orbit interactions can exhibit a helical gap with spin-momentum locking opened by a magnetic field. Such a gap is highly spin selective as a result of a topologically protected spin-momentum locking, which can be used for spin filtering. We experimentally demonstrate such a spin filtering effect in a quasi-ballistic p-type germanium/silicon core/shell nanowire (NW), which possesses a pseudo-helical gap without the application of magnetic field. Polarized hole spin injection to the NW is achieved using cobalt ferromagnetic contacts with controlled natural surface…
We present a study of GaN single-nanowire ultraviolet photodetectors with an embedded GaN/AlN superlattice. The heterostructure dimensions and doping profile were designed in such a way that the application of positive or negative bias leads to an enhancement of the collection of photogenerated carriers from the GaN/AlN superlattice or from the GaN base, respectively, as confirmed by electron beam-induced current measurements. The devices display enhanced response in the ultraviolet A ($\approx$ 330-360 nm) / B ($\approx$ 280-330 nm) spectral windows under positive/negative bias. The result is…
We investigate temperature dependent thermal conductivity k(T) in a single Ge nanowire (NW) using Optothermal Raman Spectroscopy which utilizes the temperature dependence of Raman lines as a local probe for temperature. The experiment was done from 300 K to above 700 K, a temperature range in which thermal conductivity of single NWs has been explored rarely. The thermal conductivity of Ge NWs (grown by vapor liquid solid mechanism), at around room temperature were observed to lie in the range 1.8 to 4.2 W/m.K for diameters between 50 to 110 nm. The thermal conductivity at a given temperature w…
State-of-the-art Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors based on low-Tc materials reach 100% quantum efficiency. However, the response time is limited to >1-10 ns. Recently, it has been shown that due to a much lower kinetic inductance, a 100 ps response rate can be achieved in 120 $μ$m-long $MgB_{2}$ nanowires. In this work, we demonstrate experimentally that such $MgB_{2}$ nanowires function as single-photon detectors for both visible ($λ$= 630 nm) and infrared ($λ$= 1550 nm) photons when biased close to the critical current, with a dark count rate of <10 cps. $MgB_{2}$ photodetect…
Defects are detrimental for optoelectronics devices, such as stacking faults can form carrier-transportation barriers, and foreign impurities (Au) with deep-energy levels can form carrier traps and non-radiative recombination centers. Here, we first developed self-catalyzed p-type GaAs nanowires (NWs) with pure zinc blende (ZB) structure, and then fabricated photodetector made by these NWs. Due to absence of stacking faults and suppression of large amount of defects with deep energy levels, the photodetector exhibits room-temperature high photo responsivity of 1.45 x 105 A W^-1 and excellent s…
The thermoelectric properties of a nanoscale germanium segment connected by aluminium nanowires are studied using scanning thermal microscopy. The germanium segment of 168\,nm length features atomically sharp interfaces to the aluminium wires and is surrounded by an Al$_2$O$_3$ shell. The temperature distribution along the self-heated nanowire is measured as a function of the applied electrical current, for both Joule and Peltier effects. An analysis is developed that is able to extract the thermal and thermoelectric properties including thermal conductivity, the thermal boundary resistance to…
Intersubband optoelectronic devices rely on transitions between quantum-confined electron levels in semiconductor heterostructures, which enables infrared (IR) photodetection in the 1-30 $μ$m wavelength window with picosecond response times. Incorporating nanowires as active media could enable an independent control over the electrical cross-section of the device and the optical absorption cross-section. Furthermore, the three-dimensional carrier confinement in nanowire heterostructures opens new possibilities to tune the carrier relaxation time. However, the generation of structural defects a…
The ability to produce nanowires through vapor- and solution-based processes has propelled nanowire material systems toward a wide range of technological applications. Conventional, vapor-based nanowire syntheses have enabled precise control over nanowire composition and phase. However, vapor-based nanowire growth employs batch processes with specialized pressure management systems designed to operate at high temperatures, limiting throughput. More recently developed solution-based nanowire growth processes have improved scalability but can require even more extensive pressure and temperature …
Aluminum-germanium nanowires (NWs) thermal activated solid state reaction is a promising system as very sharp and well defined one dimensional contacts can be created between a metal and a semiconductor, that can become a quantum dot if the size becomes sufficiently small. In the search for high performance devices without variability, it is of high interest to allow deterministic fabrication of nanowire quantum dots, avoiding sample variability and obtaining atomic scale precision on the fabricated dot size. In this paper, we present a reliable fabrication process to produce sub-10 nm Ge quan…
Nanowire (NW)-based opto-electronic devices require certain engineering in the NW geometry to realize polarized-dependent light sources and photodetectors. We present a growth procedure to produce InAs/InP quantum dot-nanowires (QD-NWs) with an elongated top-view cross-section relying on the vapor-liquid-solid method using molecular beam epitaxy. By interrupting the rotation of the sample during the radial growth sequence of the InP shell, hexagonal asymmetric (HA) NWs with long/short cross-section axes were obtained instead of the usual symmetrical shape. Polarization-resolved photoluminescen…
In this work, we investigate the optoelectronic properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires, which are good candidates for applications based on integrated optics. Single ZnO nanowire photodetectors were fabricated with ohmic contacts. By taking current transient measurements in different atmospheres (oxygen, air, vacuum and argon), and at various temperatures, we point out the importance of surface effects on the electrical behaviour. Results confirm that oxygen chemisorption is responsible for the existence of a high photoconductive gain in these devices, and for the first time a two step proce…
Immediately after the demonstration of the high-quality electronic properties in various two dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) crystals fabricated with mechanical exfoliation, many methods have been reported to explore and control large scale fabrications. Comparing with recent advancements in fabricating 2D atomic layered crystals, large scale production of one dimensional (1D) nanowires with thickness approaching molecular or atomic level still remains stagnant. Here, we demonstrate the high yield production of a 1D vdW material, semiconducting Ta2Pd3Se8 nanowires, by means of liquid-phas…
Due to the unique three-dimensional (3-D) geometries of nanowire-i.e., large surface-to-volume ratios and smaller cross-sections at the nanowire-substrate interfaces-their carrier dynamics are much more complicated than those of thin films. Therefore, analytical solutions cannot be found for these nanostructures and a more comprehensive scheme of 3-D modeling is necessary to interpret their intrinsic carrier dynamics. To date, most modeling studies for nanowires have focused on electromagnetic properties (e.g. optical modes and optical absorption). However, very few studies have combined optic…
Group IV Ge1-xSnx semiconductors hold the premise of enabling broadband silicon-integrated infrared optoelectronics due to their tunable bandgap energy and directness. Herein, we exploit these attributes along with the enhanced lattice strain relaxation in Ge/Ge0.92Sn0.08 core-shell nanowire heterostructures to implement highly responsive, room-temperature short-wave infrared nanoscale photodetectors. Atomic-level studies confirm the uniform shell composition and its higher crystallinity with respect to thin films counterparts. The demonstrated Ge/Ge0.92Sn0.08 p-type field-effect nanowire tran…
Layered two-dimensional (2-D) semiconductors can be combined with other low-dimensional semiconductors to form non-planar mixed-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) heterojunctions whose charge transport behavior is influenced by the heterojunction geometry, providing a new degree of freedom to engineer device functions. Towards that end, we investigated the photoresponse of Si nanowire/MoS2 heterojunction diodes with scanning photocurrent microscopy and time-resolved photocurrent measurements. Comparison of n-Si/MoS2 isotype heterojunctions with p-Si/MoS2 heterojunction diodes under varying biases…
Two-dimensional (2D) perovskites or Ruddleson Popper (RP) perovskites have emerged as a class of material inheriting the superior optoelectronic properties of two different materials: perovskites and 2D materials. The large exciton binding energy and natural quantum well structure of 2D perovskite not only make these materials ideal platforms to study light-matter interactions, but also render them suitable for fabrication of various functional optoelectronic devices. Nanoscale structuring and morphology control have led to semiconductors with enhanced functionalities. For example, nanowires o…
