Faceting, composition and crystal phase evolution in III-V antimonide nanowire heterostructures revealed by combining microscopy techniques

III-V antimonide nanowires are among the most interesting semiconductors for transport physics, nanoelectronics and long-wavelength optoelectronic devices due to their optimal material properties. In order to investigate their complex crystal structure evolution, faceting and composition, we report a combined scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of gold-nucleated ternary InAs/InAs(1-x)Sb(x) nanowire heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy. SEM showed the general morphology and faceting, TEM revealed the internal crystal structure and ternary compositions, while STM was successfully applied to characterize the oxide-free nanowire sidewalls, in terms of nanofaceting morphology, atomic structure and surface composition. The complementary use of these techniques allows for correlation of the morphological and structural properties of the nanowires with the amount of Sb incorporated during growth. The addition of even a minute amount of Sb to InAs changes the crystal structure from perfect wurtzite to perfect zinc blende, via intermediate stacking fault and pseudo-periodic twinning regimes. Moreover, the addition of Sb during the axial growth of InAs/InAs(1-x)Sb(x) heterostructure nanowires causes a significant conformal lateral overgrowth on both segments, leading to the spontaneous formation of a core-shell structure, with an Sb-rich shell.     

Constructing anisotropic single-Dirac-cones in Bi(1-x)Sb(x) thin films

The electronic band structures of Bi(1-x)Sb(x) thin films can be varied as a function of temperature, pressure, stoichiometry, film thickness, and growth orientation. We here show how different anisotropic single-Dirac-cones can be constructed in a Bi(1-x)Sb(x) thin film for different applications or research purposes. For predicting anisotropic single-Dirac-cones, we have developed an iterative-two-dimensional-two-band model to get a consistent inverse-effective-mass-tensor and band gap, which can be used in a general two-dimensional system that has a nonparabolic dispersion relation as in the Bi(1-x)Sb(x) thin film system.     

Ambipolar field effect in the ternary topological insulator (Bi(x)Sb(1-x))2Te3 by composition tuning

Topological insulators exhibit a bulk energy gap and spin-polarized surface states that lead to unique electronic properties, with potential applications in spintronics and quantum information processing. However, transport measurements have typically been dominated by residual bulk charge carriers originating from crystal defects or environmental doping, and these mask the contribution of surface carriers to charge transport in these materials. Controlling bulk carriers in current topological insulator materials, such as the binary sesquichalcogenides Bi2Te3, Sb2Te3 and Bi2Se3, has been explored extensively by means of material doping and electrical gating, but limited progress has been made to achieve nanostructures with low bulk conductivity for electronic device applications. Here we demonstrate that the ternary sesquichalcogenide (Bi(x)Sb(1-x))2Te3 is a tunable topological insulator system. By tuning the ratio of bismuth to antimony, we are able to reduce the bulk carrier density by over two orders of magnitude, while maintaining the topological insulator properties. As a result, we observe a clear ambipolar gating effect in (Bi(x)Sb(1-x))2Te3 nanoplate field-effect transistor devices, similar to that observed in graphene field-effect transistor devices. The manipulation of carrier type and density in topological insulator nanostructures demonstrated here paves the way for the implementation of topological insulators in nanoelectronics and spintronics.     

InAs1-xPx nanowires for device engineering

We present the growth of homogeneous InAs(1-x)P(x) nanowires as well as InAs(1-x)P(x) heterostructure segments in InAs nanowires with P concentrations varying from 22% to 100%. The incorporation of P has been studied as a function of TBP/TBAs ratio, temperature, and diameter of the wires. The crystal structure of the InAs as well as the InAs(1-x)P(x) segments were found to be wurtzite as determined from high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, temperature-dependent electrical transport measurements were performed on individual heterostructured wires to extract the conduction band offset of InAs(1-x)P(x) relative to InAs as a function of composition. From these measurements we extract a value of the linear coefficient of the conduction band versus x of 0.6 eV and a nonlinear coefficient, or bowing parameter, of 0.2 eV. Finally, homogeneous InAs(0.8)P(0.2) nanowires were shown to have a nondegenerate n-type doping and function as field-effect transistors at room temperature.     

电缆用铅防护套管的显微组织

应用ICP—MS法测定了电缆用铅防护套管的化学成分,使用金相显微镜、扫描电子显微镜和能谱仪对铅防护套管的微观组织、基体中析出相的形态,大小和分布及其基体中析出相的化学成分进行了观察和分析。研究结果表明,在电缆用铅防护套管基体中有孪晶组织存在,添加铜和锑元素后存在偏析现象,在基体的晶粒内部及晶界有细小均匀的Cu2Sb析出相。     

Demonstration of Defect-Free and Composition Tunable Ga(x)In(1-x)Sb Nanowires

The Ga(x)In(1-x)Sb ternary system has many interesting material properties, such as high carrier mobilities and a tunable range of bandgaps in the infrared. Here we present the first report on the growth and compositional control of Ga(x)In(1-x)Sb material grown in the form of nanowires from Au seeded nanoparticles by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The composition of the grown Ga(x)In(1-x)Sb nanowires is precisely controlled by tuning the growth parameters where x varies from 1 to ～0.3. Interestingly, the growth rate of the Ga(x)In(1-x)Sb nanowires increases with diameter, which we model based on the Gibbs-Thomson effect. Nanowire morphology can be tuned from high to very low aspect ratios, with perfect zinc blende crystal structure regardless of composition. Finally, electrical characterization on nanowire material with a composition of Ga(0.6)In(0.4)Sb showed clear p-type behavior.     

Electrical characterization of composition modulated In(1-x)Sb(x) nanowire field effect transistors by scanning gate microscopy

In this work high quality crystalline In(1_x)Sb(x) nanowires (NWs) are synthesized via a template-based electrochemistry method. Energy dispersive spectroscopy studies show that composition modulated In(1-x)Sb(x) (x approximately 0.5 or 0.7) nanowires can be attained by selectively controlling the deposition potential during growth. Single In(1-x)Sb(x) nanowire field effect transistors (NW-FETs) are fabricated to study the electrical properties of as-grown NWs. Using scanning gate microscopy (SGM) as a local gate the I(ds)-V(ds) characteristics of the fabricated devices are modulated as a function of the applied gate voltage. Electrical transport measurements show n-type semiconducting behavior for the In0.5Sb0.5 NW-FET, while a p-type behavior is observed for the In0.3Sb0.7 NW-FET device. The ability to grow composition modulated In(1-x)Sb(x) NWs can provide new opportunities for utilizing InSb NWs as building blocks for low-power and high speed nanoscale electronics.     

MlNi5-x （CoMnAl）x吸放氢性能及其催化聚合物双键加氢研究

为了探索新型聚合物双键加氢催化材料,采用XRD和自制吸氢装置等对贮氢合金MlNi5-x(CoMnAl)x的组成、吸放氢性能及其催化加氢活性等进行了研究.MlNi5-x(CoMnAl)x的P-C-T曲线表明,合金具有较低的平台压力,稳定性好;对比合金表面处理前后的吸氢动力学曲线发现:MlNi5-X(CoMnAl)x吸氢初期速度较快,后期则随时间延长吸氢量缓慢增加,而经过[6M KOH+1%KBH4]处理或Pd修饰后则可迅速达到吸氢平衡.催化聚合物双键加氢性能研究表明,未处理合金对NBR溶液加氢氢化度为零,经过[6M KOH+1%KBH4]处理和钯修饰后的合金可对NBR、SBS、NR等聚合物双键加氢,氢化度分别为33.5%、32.3%、31.1%.说明合金表面组成及结构对其吸放氢性能和催化活性均有明显影响.     

Mg／MmNi5—x（CoAlMn）x复合储氢合金的机械合金化制备

用高能球磨法制备了Ｍｇ／ＭｍＮｉ５－ｘ（ＣｏＡｌＭｎ）ｘ纳米晶复合储氢材料,通过对不同成分和球磨条件所得到的样品的组织结构进行Ｘ射线衍射,扫描电镜,能谱分析,获得了球磨参数对所制备的复合储氢合金组织结构的影响规律及所得组织的特点,结果表明,经过一定时间的球磨后的Ｍｇ／ＭｍＮｉ５－ｘ（ＣｏＡｌＭｎ）ｘ形成团粒组织,根据Ｘ射线衍射的结果估算了不同球磨条件及成分的复粉中的各相的晶粒尺寸其变化。     

Widely tunable emissions of colloidal Zn(x)Cd(1-x)Se alloy quantum dots using a constant Zn/Cd precursor ratio

The widely tunable emissions of Zn(x)Cd(1-x)Se alloy quantum dots (QDs), which emit green to red wavelengths from 534 to 620 nm, are reported. Green-, yellow-, orange-, and red-emitting QDs were synthesized by varying a point of time for oleylamine (as a co-surfactant) addition and a Se precursor amount, and keeping a constant Zn/Cd precursor ratio. With reaction time the alloying and particle growth of the alloy QDs progressed simultaneously in the opposite direction in the variation of their band gap. However, the band gap energies of all QDs were observed to be gradually blue-shifted due to the slight dominance of alloying over the particle growth effect. The compositions of alloy QDs were estimated based on their sizes and band gap energies. Zn(x)Cd(1-x)Se core QDs were also overcoated with a ZnSe shell with a higher band gap to enhance their quantum yields.     

Failure of the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism in Au-assisted MOVPE growth of InAs nanowires

We report the temperature dependence of the Au-assisted growth of InAs nanowires in MOVPE. Extensive studies of the growth of such nanowires have attributed growth to the so-called vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism, with a liquid Au-In alloy particle. We assert here that growth is instead assisted by a solid particle and does not occur at all when the particle is a liquid. Thus the temperature range of InAs nanowire growth is limited by the melting of the Au-In alloy. Comparison with growth of InAs nanowires in the same system assisted by a layer of SiO(x) is used to support this conclusion.     

Metastable Ge1-xCx alloy nanowires

Carbon-containing alloy materials such as Ge(1-x)C(x) are attractive candidates for replacing silicon (Si) in the semiconductor industry. The addition of carbon to diamond lattice not only allows control over the lattice dimensions, but also enhances the electrical properties by enabling variations in strain and compositions. However, extremely low carbon solubility in bulk germanium (Ge) and thermodynamically unfavorable Ge-C bond have hampered the production of crystalline Ge(1-x)C(x) alloy materials in an equilibrium growth system. Here we successfully synthesized high-quality Ge(1-x)C(x) alloy nanowires (NWs) by a nonequilibrium vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method. The carbon incorporation was controlled by NW growth conditions and the position of carbon atoms in the Ge matrix (at substitutional or interstitial sites) was determined by the carbon concentration. Furthermore, the shrinking of lattice spacing caused by substitutional carbon offered the promising possibility of band gap engineering for photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications.     

Structural characterization of GaSb-capped InAs/GaAs quantum dots with a GaAs intermediate layer

GaSb incorporation to InAs/GaAs quantum dots is considered for improving the opto-electronic properties of the systems. In order to optimize these properties, the introduction of an intermediate GaAs layer is considered a good approach. In this work, we study the effect of the introduction of a GaAs intermediate layer between InAs quantum dots and a GaSb capping layer on structural and crystalline quality of these heterostructures. As the thickness of the GaAs intermediate layer increases, a reduction of defect density has been observed as well as changes of quantum dots sizes. This approach suggests a promising method to improve the incorporation of Sb to InAs heterostructures.     

Mutual passivation of electrically active and isovalent impurities

The alloy GaN(x) As(1-x) (with x typically less than 0.05) is a novel semiconductor that has many interesting electronic properties because of the nitrogen-induced dramatic modifications of the conduction band structure of the host material (GaAs). Here we demonstrate the existence of an entirely new effect in the GaN(x) As(1-x) alloy system in which the Si donor in the substitututional Ga site (Si(Ga)) and the isovalent atom N in the As sublattice (N(As)) passivate each other's electronic activity. This mutual passivation occurs in Si-doped GaN(x) As(1-x) through the formation of nearest-neighbour Si(Ga) -N(As) pairs and is thermally stable up to 950 degrees C. Consequently, Si doping in GaN(x) As(1-x) under equilibrium conditions results in a highly resistive GaN(x) As(1-x) layer with the fundamental bandgap governed by a net 'active' N, roughly equal to the total N content minus the Si concentration. Such mutual passivation is expected to be a general phenomenon for electrically active dopants and localized state impurities that can form nearest-neighbour pairs.     

Shape and size control of InAs/InP (113)B quantum dots by Sb deposition during the capping procedure

The role of Sb atoms present on the growth front during capping of InAs/InP (113)B quantum dots (QDs) is investigated by cross-sectional scanning tunnelling microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Direct capping of InAs QDs by InP results in partial disassembly of InAs QDs due to the As/P exchange occurring at the surface. However, when Sb atoms are supplied to the growth surface before InP capping layer overgrowth, the QDs preserve their uncapped shape, indicating that QD decomposition is suppressed. When GaAs(0.51)Sb(0.49) layers are deposited on the QDs, conformal growth is observed, despite the strain inhomogeneity existing at the growth front. This indicates that kinetics rather than the strain plays the major role during QD capping with Sb compounds. Thus Sb opens up a new way to control the shape of InAs QDs.     

Composition controlled synthesis and Raman analysis of Ge-rich Si(x)Ge(1-x) nanowires

Here, we report the synthesis of Si(x)Ge(1-x) nanowires with x values ranging from 0 to 0.5 using bulk nucleation and growth from larger Ga droplets. Room temperature Raman spectroscopy is shown to determine the composition of the as-synthesized Si(x)Ge(1-x) nanowires. Analysis of peak intensities observed for Ge (near 300 cm(-1)) and the Si-Ge alloy (near 400 cm(-1)) allowed accurate estimation of composition compared to that based on the absolute peak positions. The results showed that the fraction of Ge in the resulting Si(x)Ge(1-x) alloy nanowires is controlled by the vapor phase composition of Ge.     

Transients in the formation of nanowire heterostructures

We present results on the effect of seed particle reconfiguration on the growth of short InAs and InP nanowire segments. The reconfiguration originates in two different steady state alloy compositions of the Au/In seed particle during growth of InAs and InP. From compositional analysis of the seed particle, the In content in the seed particle is determined to be 34 and 44% during InAs and InP growth, respectively. When switching between growing InAs and InP, transient effects dominate during the time period of seed particle reconfiguration. We developed a model that quantitatively explains the effect and with the added understanding we are now able to grow short period (<10 nm) nanowire superlattices.     

A chemical solution route to rapid synthesis of homogeneous Bi(100-x)Sb(x) alloys nanoparticles at room temperature

A chemical co-reduction route in aqueous solution was developed to synthesize Bi(100-x)Sb(x) alloys at room temperature. The hydrolyses of Bi(III) and Sb(III) were effectively avoided by selecting proper raw materials and coordinator. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the as-prepared Bi(100-x)Sb(x) alloys were homogeneous and phase-pure, and the Bi/Sb ratios in the alloys were very close to those in the aqueous solutions. The transmission electron microscope observation showed that the as-prepared Bi(100-x)Sb(x) (x = 0-100) alloys were particles with a size of tens of nanometers. The selected area electron diffraction patterns confirmed the high crystallinity, the homogeneousness, and the composition controllability of as-prepared alloys. All these characters and the nanometer-scaled size of the alloys are believed to be beneficial to the thermoelectric property of the Bi(100-x)(x)Sb(x) alloys.     

Measurement of optical and thermal properties of Hg1-xCdxTe

Measurements of optical transmission and several thermal properties of Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te alloys are reported for a few values of the alloy composition parameter x, which was determined by a microprobe technique. The values of the thermal diffusivity, specific heat, and thermal conductivity were measured using the laser-flash method. These results are reported at four discrete temperatures between 90 and 400 K and compared to those of three well-characterized semiconductor materials: Si, InAs, and InSb.     

Abnormal optical behaviour of InAsSb quantum dots grown on GaAs substrate by molecular beam epitaxy

InAs(Sb) quantum dots (QDs) samples were grown on GaAs (001) substrate by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). The structural characterization by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) of samples shows that InAsSb islands size increases strongly with antimony incorporation in InAs/GaAs QDs and decreases with reducing the growth temperature from 520 °C to 490 °C. Abnormal optical behaviour was observed in room temperature (RT) photoluminescence (PL) spectra of samples grown at high temperature (520 °C). Temperature dependent PL study was investigated and reveals an anomalous evolution of emission peak energy (EPE) of InAsSb islands, well-known as “S-inverted curve” and attributed to the release of confined carriers from the InAsSb QDs ground states to the InAsSb wetting layer (WL) states. With only decreasing the growth temperature, the S-inverted shape was suppressed indicating a fulfilled 3D-confinement of carriers in the InAsSb/GaAs QD sample.