We report the Au-assisted chemical beam epitaxy growth of defect-free zincblende InSb nanowires. The grown InSb segments are the upper sections of InAs/InSb heterostructures on InAs(111)B substrates. We show, through HRTEM analysis, that zincblende InSb can be grown without any crystal defects such as stacking faults or twinning planes. Strain-map analysis demonstrates that the InSb segment is nearly relaxed within a few nanometers from the interface. By post-growth studies we have found that the catalyst particle composition is AuIn(2), and it can be varied to a AuIn alloy by cooling down the samples under TDMASb flux.

Although generally ascribed to the presence of defects, an ultimate assignment of the different contributions to the emission spectrum in terms of surface states and deep levels in ZnO nanostructures is still lacking. In this work we unambiguously give first evidence that zinc vacancies at the (1010) nonpolar surfaces are responsible for the green luminescence of ZnO nanostructures. The result is obtained by performing an exhaustive comparison between spatially resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy and imaging and ab initio simulations. Our findings are crucial to control undesired recombinations in nanostructured devices.

Microsupercapacitors are attractive energy storage devices for integration with autonomous microsensor networks due to their high-power capabilities and robust cycle lifetimes. Here, we demonstrate porous silicon nanowires synthesized via a lithography compatible low-temperature wet etch and encapsulated in an ultrathin graphitic carbon sheath, as electrochemical double layer capacitor electrodes. Specific capacitance values reaching 325 mF cm(-2) are achieved, representing the highest specific ECDL capacitance for planar microsupercapacitor electrode materials to date.

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We report the growth of InAs/InAs(1-x)Sb(x) single and double heterostructured nanowires by Au-assisted chemical beam epitaxy. The InAs(1-x)Sb(x) nanowire segments have been characterized in a wide range of antimony compositions. Significant lateral growth is observed at intermediate compositions (x ~ 0.5), and the nucleation and step-flow mechanism leading to this lateral growth has been identified and described. Additionally, CuPt ordering of the alloy has been observed with high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and it is correlated to the lateral growth process. We also show that it is possible to regrow InAs above the InAsSb alloy segment, at least up to an intermediate antimony composition. Such double heterostructures might find applications both as mid-infrared detectors and as building blocks of electronic devices taking advantage of the outstanding electronic and thermal properties of antimonide compound semiconductors.

A model to compute the strain relaxation rate in InxGa1−xAs/GaAs single layers has been tested on several compositionally graded buffer layers. The existence of a critical elastic energy has been assumed as a criterion for the generation of new misfit dislocations. The surface strain accuracy results are within 2.5×10−4. The influence of different grading laws and growth conditions on residual strain, threading dislocation density, misfit dislocation confinement, and surface morphology has been studied. The probability of dislocation interaction and work hardening has been shown to strongly influence the mobility and the generation rate of the dislocations. Optimization of the growth conditions removes residual strain asymmetries and smoothes the surface roughness.

The structural defects in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, including point defects, dislocations and grain boundaries, are scarcely considered regarding their potential to manipulate the electrical and optical properties of this class of materials, notwithstanding the significant advances already made. Indeed, impurities and vacancies may influence the exciton population, create disorder-induced localization, as well as modify the electrical behaviour of the material. Here we report on the experimental evidence, confirmed by ab initio calculations, that sulfur vacancies give rise to a novel near-infrared emission peak around 0.75 eV in exfoliated MoS2 flakes. In addition, we demonstrate an excess of sulfur vacancies at the flake's edges by means of cathodoluminescence mapping, aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy imaging and electron energy loss analyses. Moreover, we show that ripplocations, extended line defects peculiar to this material, broaden and redshift the MoS2 indirect bandgap emission.

We report on the morphology of InAs−InSb heterostructured nanowires grown by Au-assisted chemical beam epitaxy. Using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, along with high angle annular dark field image analysis, we show that the hexagons defining the cross section of the two segments of the nanowires are rotated one with respect to the other by 30° around the growth direction and that the corners of these hexagons are rounded off by six small facets. Six additional facets that are not parallel to the growth direction are found in the InSb segment at the InAs−InSb interface and are indexed. Finally, the relation between the dimensions of the two segments composing the nanowires is discussed quantitatively.