III-V nanowires are candidate building blocks for next generation electronic and optoelectronic platforms. Low bandgap semiconductors such as InAs and InSb are interesting because of their high electron mobility. Fine control of the structure, morphology, and composition are key to the control of their physical properties. In this work, we present how to grow catalyst-free InAs1-xSbx nanowires, which are stacking fault and twin defect-free over several hundreds of nanometers. We evaluate the impact of their crystal phase purity by probing their electrical properties in a transistor-like configuration and by measuring the phonon-plasmon interaction by Raman spectroscopy. We also highlight the importance of high-quality dielectric coating for the reduction of hysteresis in the electrical characteristics of the nanowire transistors. High channel carrier mobilities and reduced hysteresis open the path for high-frequency devices fabricated using InAs1-xSbx nanowires.

Reliable doping is required to realize many devices based on semiconductor nanowires. Group III-V nanowires show great promise as elements of high-speed optoelectronic devices, but for such applications it is important that the electron mobility is not compromised by the inclusion of dopants. Here we show that GaAs nanowires can be n-type doped with negligible loss of electron mobility. Molecular beam epitaxy was used to fabricate modulation-doped GaAs nanowires with Al0.33Ga0.67As shells that contained a layer of Si dopants. We identify the presence of the doped layer from a high-angle annular dark field scanning electron microscopy cross-section image. The doping density, carrier mobility, and charge carrier lifetimes of these n-type nanowires and nominally undoped reference samples were determined using the noncontact method of optical pump terahertz probe spectroscopy. An n-type extrinsic carrier concentration of 1.10 ± 0.06 × 10(16) cm(-3) was extracted, demonstrating the effectiveness of modulation doping in GaAs nanowires. The room-temperature electron mobility was also found to be high at 2200 ± 300 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and importantly minimal degradation was observed compared with undoped reference nanowires at similar electron densities. In addition, modulation doping significantly enhanced the room-temperature photoconductivity and photoluminescence lifetimes to 3.9 ± 0.3 and 2.4 ± 0.1 ns respectively, revealing that modulation doping can passivate interfacial trap states.

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InAsSb nanowires are promising elements for thermoelectric devices, infrared photodetectors, high-speed transistors, as well as thermophotovoltaic cells. By changing the Sb alloy fraction the mid-infrared bandgap energy and thermal conductivity may be tuned for specific device applications. Using both terahertz and Raman noncontact probes, we show that Sb alloying increases the electron mobility in the nanowires by over a factor of 3 from InAs to InAsSb. We also extract the temperature-dependent electron mobility via both terahertz and Raman spectroscopy, and we report the highest electron mobilities for InAsSb nanowires to date, exceeding 16,000 cm V s at 10 K.

III-V nanostructures have the potential to revolutionize optoelectronics and energy harvesting. For this to become a reality, critical issues such as reproducibility and sensitivity to defects should be resolved. By discussing the optical properties of MBE grown GaAs nanomembranes we highlight several features that bring them closer to large scale applications. Uncapped membranes exhibit a very high optical quality, 1 arXiv:1704.08477v1 [cond-mat.mes-hall] 27 Apr 2017 expressed by extremely narrow neutral exciton emission, allowing the resolution of the more complex excitonic structure for the first time. Capping of the membranes with an AlGaAs shell results in a strong increase of emission intensity but also to a shift and broadening of the exciton peak. This is attributed to the existence of impurities in the shell, beyond MBE-grade quality, showing the high sensitivity of these structures to the presence of impurities. Finally, emission properties are identical at the sub-micron and sub-millimeter scale, demonstrating the potential of these structures for large scale applications.Keywords: GaAs/AlGaAs nano mebranes, photoluminescence, electronic and optical properties of ensemble vs single nano membrane Nanowires (NWs) are filamentary crystals with a diameter in the sub-micrometer down to nanometer range. Their special morphology, dimensions and high surface-to-volume ratio are often translated into advantageous optical and electrical properties. As a consequence, they have been widely used in electronics, 1-5 optoelectronics, 6,7 solar cells 8-11 and sensors. 12,13 If not adequately passivated, the surface recombination can limit the optical performance of the NWs. 14 In addition, surface depletion can also affect the volume distribution and separation of the carriers in the NW. 15-19 Different passivation methods have been employed in the past, notably capping of the free surfaces with a higher bandgap shell around the nanowire. [20][21][22] Nevertheless, capping also modifies the nature of the surface. Several effects have been reported, such as band bending at the interface leading to the accumulation of the charge at the interface or piezo electric strain. [23][24][25][26][27] In addition, the AlGaAs alloy typically used for capping GaAs nanowires is generally inhomogeneous, with directed and random segregation of Ga and Al forming respectively Al-rich ridges and Ga-rich nanoscale islands . 28,29 Simultaneously, III-V NWs can suffer from twin defects and polytypism, 30,31 which adversely affect their electronic and optical properties. 32-34 With a judicious optimization of growth conditions, single NWs with a pure zinc-blende or wurzite structure can be obtained. [35][36][37] Still, the optical and electronic properties tend to fluctuate considerably from NW to NW, 2 which precludes the proper control of the response of an ensemble of nanowires.Recently, alternative approaches to obtain defect-free nano structures have been proposed. Particularly promising is the inversion of polarity from B to A...