InAs/InP Radial Nanowire Heterostructures as High Electron Mobility Devices

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 7; no. 10; pp. 3214 - 3218
• Main Authors: Jiang, Xiaocheng, Xiong, Qihua, Nam, Sungwoo, Qian, Fang, Li, Yat, Lieber, Charles M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01-10-2007
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Arsenicals - chemistry; Computer Simulation; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Crystallization - methods; Electric Wiring - instrumentation; Electron states and collective excitations in thin films, multilayers, quantum wells, mesoscopic and nanoscale systems; Electron Transport; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Indium - chemistry; Materials science; Models, Chemical; Molecular Conformation; Molecular electronics, nanoelectronics; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nanostructures - ultrastructure; Nanotechnology - methods; Particle Size; Phosphines - chemistry; Physics; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Transistors; Field effect transistors; Epitaxy; n channel; Nanostructures; Nanoelectronics; Nanometer scale; Electron mobility; Carrier mobility; Transconductance; Electronic properties; Epitaxial layers; Core shell structure; Dispersive spectrometry; Indium arsenides; Electrical measurement; Monocrystals; Transmission electron microscopy; Electron temperature; Gate oxide; Indium phosphides; High k dielectric; Nanowires; High electron mobility transistors; Nanostructured materials; Heterostructures; Quantum transport; III-V semiconductors
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl072024a

Radial core/shell nanowires (NWs) represent an important class of one-dimensional (1D) systems with substantial potential for exploring fundamental materials electronic and photonic properties. Here, we report the rational design and synthesis of InAs/InP core/shell NW heterostructures with quantum-confined, high-mobility electron carriers. Transmission electron microscopy studies revealed single-crystal InAs cores with epitaxial InP shells 2−3 nm in thickness, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis further confirmed the composition of the designed heterostructure. Room-temperature electrical measurements on InAs/InP NW field-effect transistors (NWFETs) showed significant improvement in the on-current and transconductance compared to InAs NWFETs fabricated in parallel, with a room-temperature electron mobility, 11 500 cm2/Vs, substantially higher than other synthesized 1D nanostructures. In addition, NWFET devices configured with integral high dielectric constant gate oxide and top-gate structure yielded scaled on-currents up to 3.2 mA/μm, which are larger than values reported for other n-channel FETs. The design and realization of high electron mobility InAs/InP NWs extends our toolbox of nanoscale building blocks and opens up opportunities for fundamental and applied studies of quantum coherent transport and high-speed, low-power nanoelectronic circuits.