Y-branched Bi nanowires with metal–semiconductor junction behavior

Abstract

Y-branched Bi nanowires (NWs) embedded in anodic aluminum oxide templates were synthesized by electrochemical deposition. Transmission electron microscope observations revealed that the “stem” and the “branches” of the Y-branched Bi NWs are about 80 and 50nm in diameter, respectively. Selected area electron diffraction studies showed that both the stem and the branches are single crystalline. Current–voltage measurement revealed that the parallel Y-branched Bi NWs have characteristics of conventional metal–semiconductor junctions. Our approach to produce one-dimensional metal–semiconductor junctions using Y-branched NWs consisting of only one kind of semimetal and without any external doping can be exploited to create metal–semiconductor junctions of other semimetals, which may find various applications in nanodevices.

In situ synthesis of Bi/Bi2S3 heteronanowires with nonlinear electrical transport

“…Previous calculation revealed that the semimetal-semiconductor transition will occur when the diameter of Bi nanowires decreases to below 65 nm [23], and experimental results indicated that Bi nanowires with diameters larger than 70 nm are metallic, and that with diameters of about 50 nm or smaller are semiconductor [24]. Our result is consistent with these results, and the measured results are also sound compared to the results of "Y" shaped Bi nanowire array [25]. Bi 2 S 3 is a semiconductor with band gap of 1.3 eV [12].…”

Synthesis and characterization of Bi nanorods and superconducting NiBi particles

“…Bi nanowires with diameters of roughly 50 nm or smaller show semi-conducting behavior while above 70 nm metallic behavior is observed. They can also be synthesized by electro-chemical deposition using templates [17][18][19]. Bismuth nanotubes were reported by Li and co-workers in a previous report using hydrazine hydrate in basic solution followed by several washing steps to prevent oxidation [20].…”

Synthesis and characterization of BiFeO3 nanotube arrays and Y-junction BiFeO3 nanotubes

“…AAO membranes [15] and Y-junction channel AAO membranes [17,18] were synthesized according to the literature. An Al foil of 99.9% purity was dc anodized in 0.3 mol/L H 2 C 2 O 4 aqueous solution under constant voltage of 50 V for 4 h at 0℃.…”

“…These advantages make AAO templates ideal for the synthesis of oxide nanotubes. The diameter and shape of nanotubes are conveniently controlled by changing the size and structure of membrane channel [15][16][17] . Zhang et al [9] synthesized the BFO nanotubes, which showed significant piezoelectric characteristics and weak ferromagnetism [10] .…”