Synthesis and properties of ultra-long InP nanowires on glass

TY - JOUR

T1 - Synthesis and properties of ultra-long InP nanowires on glass

AU - Dhaka, Veer

AU - Pale, Ville

AU - Khayrudinov, Vladislav

AU - Kakko, Joona-Pekko

AU - Haggren, Tuomas

AU - Jiang, Hua

AU - Kauppinen, Esko

AU - Lipsanen, Harri

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - We report on the synthesis of Au-catalyzed InP nanowires (NWs) on low-cost glass substrates. Ultra-dense and ultra-long (up to ∼250 μ m) InP NWs, with an exceptionally high growth rate of ∼25 μ m min −1 , were grown directly on glass using metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Structural properties of InP NWs grown on glass were similar to the ones grown typically on Si substrates showing many structural twin faults but the NWs on glass always exhibited a stronger photoluminescence (PL) intensity at room temperature. The PL measurements of NWs grown on glass reveal two additional prominent impurity related emission peaks at low temperature (10 K). In particular, the strongest unusual emission peak with an activation energy of 23.8 ± 2 meV was observed at 928 nm. Different possibilities including the role of native defects (phosphorus and/or indium vacancies) are discussed but most likely the origin of this PL peak is related to the impurity incorporation from the glass substrate. Furthermore, despite the presence of suspected impurities, the NWs on glass show outstanding light absorption in a wide spectral range (60%–95% for λ = 300–1600 nm). The optical properties and the NW growth mechanism on glass is discussed qualitatively. We attribute the exceptionally high growth rate mostly to the atmospheric pressure growth conditions of our MOVPE reactor and stronger PL intensity on glass due to the impurity doping. Overall, the III–V NWs grown on glass are similar to the ones grown on semiconductor substrates but offer additional advantages such as low-cost and light transparency.

AB - We report on the synthesis of Au-catalyzed InP nanowires (NWs) on low-cost glass substrates. Ultra-dense and ultra-long (up to ∼250 μ m) InP NWs, with an exceptionally high growth rate of ∼25 μ m min −1 , were grown directly on glass using metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Structural properties of InP NWs grown on glass were similar to the ones grown typically on Si substrates showing many structural twin faults but the NWs on glass always exhibited a stronger photoluminescence (PL) intensity at room temperature. The PL measurements of NWs grown on glass reveal two additional prominent impurity related emission peaks at low temperature (10 K). In particular, the strongest unusual emission peak with an activation energy of 23.8 ± 2 meV was observed at 928 nm. Different possibilities including the role of native defects (phosphorus and/or indium vacancies) are discussed but most likely the origin of this PL peak is related to the impurity incorporation from the glass substrate. Furthermore, despite the presence of suspected impurities, the NWs on glass show outstanding light absorption in a wide spectral range (60%–95% for λ = 300–1600 nm). The optical properties and the NW growth mechanism on glass is discussed qualitatively. We attribute the exceptionally high growth rate mostly to the atmospheric pressure growth conditions of our MOVPE reactor and stronger PL intensity on glass due to the impurity doping. Overall, the III–V NWs grown on glass are similar to the ones grown on semiconductor substrates but offer additional advantages such as low-cost and light transparency.

KW - InP semiconductor nanowires

KW - glass substrate

KW - MOVPE/MOCVD

U2 - 10.1088/0957-4484/27/50/505606

DO - 10.1088/0957-4484/27/50/505606

M3 - Article

VL - 27

JO - Nanotechnology

JF - Nanotechnology

SN - 0957-4484

IS - 50

M1 - 505606

ER -