Demonstration of defect-free and composition tunable Ga xIn 1-xSb nanowires

Abstract

The Ga xIn 1-xSb ternary system has many interesting material properties, such as high carrier mobilities and a tunable range of bandgaps in the infrared. Here we present the first report on the growth and compositional control of Ga xIn 1-xSb material grown in the form of nanowires from Au seeded nanoparticles by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The composition of the grown Ga xIn 1-xSb nanowires is precisely controlled by tuning the growth parameters where x varies from 1 to ∼0.3. Interestingly, the growth rate of the Ga xIn 1-xSb nanowires increases with diameter, which we model based on the Gibbs-Thomson effect. Nanowire morphology can be tuned from high to very low aspect ratios, with perfect zinc blende crystal structure regardless of composition. Finally, electrical characterization on nanowire material with a composition of Ga 0.6In 0.4Sb showed clear p-type behavior.