Carrier transport in CdSe/SiO2 thin film transistors

Conductivity and Hall mobility were measured for CdSe films in normal and gated field effect structures. The results indicate that potential barriers at grain boundaries play only a minor role in the conductivity. Variation in the Hall mobility with the gate voltage is accounted for in terms of surface scattering. Field effect modulation of the conductivity is concluded to be mainly due to the variation in the carrier density. Interface trapping state densities are found to be extremely low.     

Tailoring the surface properties and carrier dynamics in SnO2 nanowires

We report a study of the role of mid-gap defect levels due to surface states in SnO(2) nanowires on carrier trapping. Ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy provides carrier relaxation time constants that reveal the nature and positions of various defect levels due to the surface states which in turn provide details on how the carriers relax after their injection. The effect of oxygen annealing on carrier concentration is also studied through XPS valence band photoemission spectroscopy, a sensitive non-contact surface characterization technique. These measurements show that charge transfer associated with chemisorption of oxygen in different forms produces an upward band bending and leads to an increase in the depletion layer width by approximately 70 nm, thereby decreasing surface conductivity and forming the basis for the molecular sensing capability of the nanowires.     

Measuring the capacitance of individual semiconductor nanowires for carrier mobility assessment

Capacitance-voltage characteristics of individual germanium nanowire field effect transistors were directly measured and used to assess carrier mobility in nanowires for the first time, thereby removing uncertainties in calculated mobility due to device geometries, surface and interface states, and gate dielectric constants and thicknesses. Direct experimental evidence showed that surround-gated nanowire transistors exhibit higher capacitance and better electrostatic gate control than top-gated devices, and are the most promising structure for future high performance nanoelectronics.     

Electrical and Optical Characterization of Surface Passivation in GaAs Nanowires

We report a systematic study of carrier dynamics in Al(x)Ga(1-x)As-passivated GaAs nanowires. With passivation, the minority carrier diffusion length (L(diff)) increases from 30 to 180 nm, as measured by electron beam induced current (EBIC) mapping, and the photoluminescence (PL) lifetime increases from sub-60 ps to 1.3 ns. A 48-fold enhancement in the continuous-wave PL intensity is observed on the same individual nanowire with and without the Al(x)Ga(1-x)As passivation layer, indicating a significant reduction in surface recombination. These results indicate that, in passivated nanowires, the minority carrier lifetime is not limited by twin stacking faults. From the PL lifetime and minority carrier diffusion length, we estimate the surface recombination velocity (SRV) to range from 1.7 × 10(3) to 1.1 × 10(4) cm·s(-1), and the minority carrier mobility μ is estimated to lie in the range from 10.3 to 67.5 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) for the passivated nanowires.     

Effects of surface modification of the individual ZnO nanowire with oxygen plasma treatment

This study examined the effects of an oxygen plasma treatment on the properties of ZnO nanowires with diameters of 80 nm using a single nanowire field effect transistor. After the oxygen plasma treatment, the carrier concentration and mobility of individual ZnO nanowires decreased with a substantial positive shift in the threshold voltage. The shifting was accounted to the surface modification, resulted to the improved gas sensitivity under hydrogen gas exposure and an enhanced photocurrent response time in ultraviolet illumination. The plausible surface mechanisms responsible for these significant changes after the surface modification were suggested by considering the surface analysis and electrical transport mechanism.     

Laser pump and X-ray probe surface photovoltage spectroscopy on Si(111)

Abstract

Laser pump and X-ray probe core-level photoemission experiments probe surface photovoltage transients on p-type Si(111) surfaces. The data are consistent with a picture where the dynamics of mobile surface charge dominate the photovoltage shift, with changes in the surface-states charge density of only secondary importance. A value for the equilibrium band bending is determined, which suggests that a residual oxide layer reduces the density of surface states.     

Assessing charge carrier trapping in silicon nanowires using picosecond conductivity measurements

Free-standing semiconductor nanowires on bulk substrates are increasingly being explored as building blocks for novel optoelectronic devices such as tandem solar cells. Although carrier transport properties, such as mobility and trap densities, are essential for such applications, it has remained challenging to quantify these properties. Here, we report on a method that permits the direct, contact-free quantification of nanowire carrier diffusivity and trap densities in thin (～25 nm wide) silicon nanowires-without any additional processing steps such as transfer of wires onto a substrate. The approach relies on the very different terahertz (THz) conductivity response of photoinjected carriers within the silicon nanowires from those in the silicon substrate. This allows quantifying both the picosecond dynamics and the efficiency of charge carrier transport from the silicon nanowires into the silicon substrate. Varying the excitation density allows for quantification of nanowire trap densities: for sufficiently low excitation fluences the diffusion process stalls because the majority of charge carriers become trapped at nanowire surface defects. Using a model that includes these effects, we determine both the diffusion constant and the nanowire trap density. The trap density is found to be orders of magnitude larger than the charge carrier density that would be generated by AM1.5 sunlight.     

Weak antilocalization in Bi2(Se(x)Te(1-x))3 nanoribbons and nanoplates

Studying the surface states of Bi(2)Se(3) and Bi(2)Te(3) topological insulators has proven challenging due to the high bulk carrier density that masks the surface states. Ternary compound Bi(2)(Se(x)Te(1-x))(3) may present a solution to the current materials challenge by lowering the bulk carrier mobility significantly. Here, we synthesized Bi(2)(Se(x)Te(1-x))(3) nanoribbons and nanoplates via vapor-liquid-solid and vapor-solid growth methods where the atomic ratio x was controlled by the molecular ratio of Bi(2)Se(3) to Bi(2)Te(3) in the source mixture and ranged between 0 and 1. For the whole range of x, the ternary nanostructures are single crystalline without phase segregation, and their carrier densities decrease with x. However, the lowest electron density is still high (~10(19) cm(-3)) and the mobility low, suggesting that the majority of these carriers may come from impurity states. Despite the high carrier density, weak antilocalization (WAL) is clearly observed. Angle-dependent magnetoconductance study shows that an appropriate magnetic field range is critical to capture a true, two-dimensional (2D) WAL effect, and a fit to the 2D localization theory gives α of -0.97, suggesting its origin may be the topological surface states. The power law dependence of the dephasing length on temperature is ~T(-0.49) within the appropriate field range (~0.3 T), again reflecting the 2D nature of the WAL. Careful analysis on WAL shows how the surface states and the bulk/impurity states may interact with each other.     

Flux quantization effects in InN nanowires

InN nanowires, grown by plasma-enhanced molecular beam epitaxy, were investigated by means of magnetotransport. By performing temperature-dependent transport measurements and current measurements on a large number of nanowires of different dimensions, it is proven that the carrier transport mainly takes place in a tube-like surface electron gas. Measurements on three representative nanowires under an axially oriented magnetic field revealed pronounced magnetoconductance oscillations with a periodicity corresponding to a single magnetic flux quantum. The periodicity is explained by the effect of the magnetic flux penetrating the coherent circular quantum states in the InN nanowires, rather than by Aharonov-Bohm type interferences. The occurrence of the single magnetic flux quantum periodicity is attributed to the magnetic flux dependence of phase-coherent circular states with different angular momentum quantum numbers forming the one-dimensional transport channels. These phase coherent states can exist because of the almost ideal crystalline properties of the InN nanowires prepared by self-assembled growth.     

Operation model with carrier-density dependent mobility for amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistors

An operation model for an amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) based thin film transistor (TFT) is studied. The model is not based on the exponential tail states employed in hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si:H) TFT, but on a power function of the carrier density which is observed in the TFT and Hall mobilities of a-IGZO. A 2D numerical simulator employing this model reproduced current-voltage characteristics under on operation of coplanar homojunction a-IGZO TFTs. Although the mathematical expression of the mobility is similar to the field effect mobility of a-Si:H TFT, the present model explains the temperature dependence of the on characteristics of a-IGZO TFT.     

Measurement of carrier mobility in silicon nanowires

We report the first direct capacitance measurements of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) and the consequent determination of field carrier mobilities in undoped-channel SiNW field-effect transistors (FETs) at room temperature. We employ a two-FET method for accurate extraction of the intrinsic channel resistance and intrinsic channel capacitance of the SiNWs. The devices used in this study were fabricated using a top-down method to create SiNW FETs with up to 1000 wires in parallel for increasing the raw capacitance while maintaining excellent control on device dimensions and series resistance. We found that, compared with the universal mobility curves for bulk silicon, the electron and hole mobilities in nanowires are comparable to those of the surface orientation that offers a lower mobility.     

The flux-flow hall effect in type II superconductors. An explanation of the sign reversal

We consider a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) model modified to take into account two mechanisms responsible for the Hall voltage in superconductors: the usual effect of the magnetic field on the normal current, and the vortex traction by the superflow. For the BCS model of superconductivity, the contribution of the vortex traction is proportional to the energy derivative of the quasiparticle density of states. Our theory gives the correct order of magnitude for the Hall angle in the mixed state. It predicts that the vortex-traction mechanism results in a negative Hall angle for the quasiparticle spectrum with a positive energy derivative of the density of states averaged over the Fermi surface, and vice versa. For the Fermi surface with a complicated shape, the sign of the Hall effect in the mixed state can be different from that in the normal state. If the signs are opposite, the Hall angle changes its sign as a function of the magnetic field belowH _c2 .     

High carrier mobility in single ultrathin colloidal lead selenide nanowire field effect transistors

Ultrathin colloidal lead selenide (PbSe) nanowires with continuous charge transport channels and tunable bandgap provide potential building blocks for solar cells and photodetectors. Here, we demonstrate a room-temperature hole mobility as high as 490 cm(2)/(V s) in field effect transistors incorporating single colloidal PbSe nanowires with diameters of 6-15 nm, coated with ammonium thiocyanate and a thin SiO(2) layer. A long carrier diffusion length of 4.5 μm is obtained from scanning photocurrent microscopy (SPCM). The mobility is increased further at lower temperature, reaching 740 cm(2)/(V s) at 139 K.     

Low-temperature synthesis of indium tin oxide nanowires as the transparent electrodes for organic light emitting devices

Low-temperature growth of indium tin oxide (ITO) nanowires (NWs) was obtained on catalyst-free amorphous glass substrates at 250?°C by Nd:YAG pulsed-laser deposition. These ITO NWs have branching morphology as grown in Ar ambient. As suggested by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), our ITO NWs have the tendency to grow vertically outward from the substrate surface, with the (400) plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the nanowires. These NWs are low in electrical resistivity (1.6×10?? Ω cm) and high in visible transmittance (~90–96%), and were tested as the electrode for organic light emitting devices (OLEDs). An enhanced current density of ~30 mA cm?2 was detected at bias voltages of ~19–21 V with uniform and bright emission. We found that the Hall mobility of these NWs is 2.2–2.7 times higher than that of ITO film, which can be explained by the reduction of Coulomb scattering loss. These results suggested that ITO nanowires are promising for applications in optoelectronic devices including OLED, touch screen displays, and photovoltaic solar cells.     

The finite element absolute nodal coordinate formulation incorporated with surface stress effect to model elastic bending nanowires in large deformation

Surface stress was incorporated into the finite element absolute nodal coordinate formulation in order to model elastic bending of nanowires in large deformation. The absolute nodal coordinate formulation is a numerical method to model bending structures in large deformation. The generalized Young-Laplace equation was employed to model the surface stress effect on bending nanowires. Effects from surface stress and large deformation on static bending nanowires are presented and discussed. The results calculated with the absolute nodal coordinate formulation incorporated with surface stress show that the surface stress effect makes the bending nanowires behave like softer or stiffer materials depending on the boundary condition. The surface stress effect diminishes as the dimensions of the bending structures increase beyond the nanoscale. The developed algorithm is consistent with the classical absolute nodal coordinate formulation at the macroscale.     

The measurement of mobilities and doping concentrations in field-effect-controlled thin semiconductor films

A method is proposed for determining the functional relationship between the carrier mobility and the electrostatic potential in uniform n- or p-type thin film semiconductors from experimental Hall measurements. Use of a symmetrical Hall effect MISIM thin film measuring structure yields tractable solutions of Poisson's equation and should help circumvent problems of interpretation that might otherwise arise when using an asymmetric MIS configuration.In the analytic method demonstrated for an n-type semiconductor with field-plate-induced accumulation layers, two expressions are obtained relating donor density N_d and carrier drift mobility μ(?) in terms of measurable Hall effect parameters as a function of normalized electrostatic potential ø and normalized film thickness 2λ_d. A given example using a plausible functional relationship for μ(ø) indicates that considerable deviations between μ(ø) and the Hall mobility <μ_H(ø_s)> can exist. A numerical procedure for solving the integral equations relating μ(ø) and <μ_H(ø_s)> is presented.     

Dramatic reduction of surface recombination by in situ surface passivation of silicon nanowires

Nanowires have unique optical properties and are considered as important building blocks for energy harvesting applications such as solar cells. However, due to their large surface-to-volume ratios, the recombination of charge carriers through surface states reduces the carrier diffusion lengths in nanowires a few orders of magnitude, often resulting in the low efficiency (a few percent or less) of nanowire-based solar cells. Reducing the recombination by surface passivation is crucial for the realization of high-performance nanosized optoelectronic devices but remains largely unexplored. Here we show that a thin layer of amorphous silicon (a-Si) coated on a single-crystalline silicon nanowire, forming a core-shell structure in situ in the vapor-liquid-solid process, reduces the surface recombination nearly 2 orders of magnitude. Under illumination of modulated light, we measure a greater than 90-fold improvement in the photosensitivity of individual core-shell nanowires, compared to regular nanowires without shell. Simulations of the optical absorption of the nanowires indicate that the strong absorption of the a-Si shell contributes to this effect, but we conclude that the effect is mainly due to the enhanced carrier lifetime by surface passivation.     

High mobility field effect transistor from solution-processed needle-like tellurium nanowires

Well-dispersed and uniform needle-like tellurium nanowires (NWs) have been fabricated in high yield by an environmentally-friendly hydrothermal method. It is found that beta-cyclodextrin ligands and reaction temperature play a great role on the morphology of Te NWs. Uniform needle-like Te NWs can only be obtained at suitable concentration of beta-CD and reaction temperature. A possible mechanism for the formation of the needle-liked Te NWs is discussed based on the experiment results briefly. High quality single Te NW field effect transistors are prepared through photolithographic patterning. By optimizing electrode and surface treatments, the NW FET has a high carrier mobility of 299 cm2V(-1)s(-1), which is the highest value ever reported for Te NW-based FETs. The performance is influenced by purity, crystallinity, surface species of NWs and metal contacts of NW device.     

Role of molecular surface passivation in electrical transport properties of InAs nanowires

The existence of large densities of surface states on InAs pins the surface Fermi level above the conduction band and also degrades the electron mobility in thin films and nanowires. Field effect transistors have been fabricated and characterized in the "as fabricated" state and after surface passivation with 1-octadecanethiol (ODT). Electrical characterization of the transistors shows that the subthreshold slope and electron mobility in devices passivated with ODT are superior to the respective values in unpassivated devices. An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of ODT passivated undoped InAs nanowires indicates that sulfur from ODT is bonded to In on the InAs nanowires. Simulations using a two-dimensional device simulator (MEDICI) show that the improvements in device performance after ODT passivation can be quantified in terms of a decrease of interface trap electron donor states, shifts in fixed interfacial charge, and changes in body and surface mobilities.     

Electronic transport near the surface of indium antimonide films

Surface layer carrier concentrations and mobilities of n-type InSb films were separated from those of the bulk of the film through the magnetic field dependence of the Hall coefficient coupled with conventional galvanomagnetic measurements. This technique yields a surface electron density for the top plus bottom of the film of (3?5) × 10¹³ cm^?2 and a surface layer mobility of 1500–2000 cm² V^?1 s^?1, both largely independent of temperature. The surface density is found to decrease when the free surface is anodized.