Vertical light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on GaAs/InGaP core/shell nanowires, epitaxially grown on GaP and Si substrates, have been fabricated. The devices can be fabricated over large areas and can be precisely positioned on the substrates, by the use of standard lithography techniques, enabling applications such as on-chip optical communication. LED functionality was established on both kinds of substrate, and the devices were evaluated in terms of temperature-dependent photoluminescence and electroluminescence.

We report on spectrally resolved photocurrent measurements on single self-assembled nanowire heterostructures. The wires, typically 3 microm long with an average diameter of 85 nm, consist of InAs with a 1 microm central part of InAsP. Two different sets of wires were prepared with phosphorus contents of 15+/-3% and 35+/-3%, respectively, as determined by energy-dispersive spectroscopy measurements made in transmission electron microscopy. Ohmic contacts are fabricated to the InAs ends of the wire using e-beam lithography. The conduction band offset between the InAs and InAsP regions virtually removes the dark current through the wires at low temperature. In the optical experiments, interband excitation in the phosphorus-rich part of the wires results in a photocurrent with threshold energies of about 0.65 and 0.82 eV, respectively, in qualitative agreement with the expected band gap of the two compositions. Furthermore, a strong polarization dependence is observed with an order of magnitude larger photocurrent for light polarized parallel to the wire than for light polarized perpendicular to the wire. We believe that these wires form promising candidates as nanoscale infrared polarization-sensitive photodetectors.

We used epitaxially grown monodisperse nanowire arrays to measure cellular forces with a spatial resolution of 1 mum. Nerve cells were cultured on the array and cellular forces were calculated from the displacement of the nanowire tips. The measurements were done in situ on live cells using confocal microscopy. Forces down to 15 pN were measured on neural growth cones, showing that this method can be used to study the fine details of growth-cone dynamics.

Comment on "A nanopositioner for scanning probe microscopy: The KoalaDrive" [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 023703 (2012)] Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 097101 (2012) Three-axis correction of distortion due to positional drift in scanning probe microscopy Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 083711 (2012) A near-field scanning microwave microscope for characterization of inhomogeneous photovoltaics Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 083702 (2012) Scanning gate microscopy on a graphene nanoribbon Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 063101 (2012) Additional information on Rev. Sci. Instrum. This paper explores the fundamental limits of the use of quartz tuning forks as force detectors in scanned probe microscopy. It is demonstrated that at room temperature, pressure, and atmosphere these force sensors have a noise floor of 0.62 pN/ͱHz and exhibit a root mean square Brownian motion of only 0.32 pm. When operated as a shear force sensor both dissipative and reactive forces are detected on approach to the sample. These forces are sufficient to reduce the amplitude of motion of the probe nearly to zero without physically contacting the surface. It is also demonstrated that conventional proportional-integral feedback control yields closed loop responses at least 40 times faster than their open loop response.