A low-temperature
chemical vapor growth of Ge nanowires using Ga
as seed material is demonstrated. The structural and chemical analysis
reveals the homogeneous incorporation of ∼3.5 at. % Ga in the
Ge nanowires. The Ga-containing Ge nanowires behave like metallic
conductors with a resistivity of about ∼300 μΩcm
due to Ga hyperdoping with electronic contributions of one-third of
the incorporated Ga atoms. This is the highest conduction value observed
by in situ doping of group IV nanowires reported
to date. This work demonstrates that Ga is both an efficient seed
material at low temperatures for Ge nanowire growth and an effective
dopant changing the semiconductor into a metal-like conductor.
The Ga-assisted formation of Ge nanorods and nanowires in solution has been demonstrated and a catalytic activity of the Ga seeds was observed. The synthesis of anisotropic single-crystalline Ge nanostructures was achieved at temperatures as low as 170 °C. Gallium not only serves as nucleation seed but is also incorporated in the Ge nanowires in higher concentrations than its thermodynamic solubility limit.Graphical abstract
Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00706-018-2191-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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