Giant optical birefringence of semiconductor nanowire metamaterials

Semiconductor nanowires exhibit large polarization anisotropy for the absorption and emission of light, making them ideal building blocks for novel photonic metamaterials. Here, we demonstrate that a high density of aligned nanowires exhibits giant optical birefringence, a collective phenomenon observable uniquely for collections of wires. The nanowire material was grown on gallium phosphide (GaP) (111) in the form of vertically standing GaP nanowires. We obtain the largest optical birefringence to date, with a difference between the in-plane and out-of-plane refractive indices of 0.80 and a relative birefringence of 43%. These values exceed by a factor of 75 the natural birefringence of quartz and a by more than a factor of two the highest values reported so far in other artificial materials. By exploiting the specific crystallographic growth directions of the nanowires on the substrate, we further demonstrate full control over the orientation of the optical birefringence effect in the metamaterial.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Single quantum dot nanowire LEDs

We report reproducible fabrication of InP-InAsP nanowire light emitting diodes in which electron-hole recombination is restricted to a quantum-dot-sized InAsP section. The nanowire geometry naturally self-aligns the quantum dot with the n-InP and p-InP ends of the wire, making these devices promising candidates for electrically-driven quantum optics experiments. We have investigated the operation of these nano-LEDs with a consistent series of experiments at room temperature and at 10 K, demonstrating the potential of this system for single photon applications

Design study of a nanowire three-terminal heterojunction bipolar transistor solar cell

We present an optical design study on a nanowire heterojunction bipolar transistor solar cell. The simple structure of this novel architecture of double-junction solar cell, allows for independent power extraction from the two junctions and makes the nanowire growth easier than in current-matched double-junction solar cells as there is no need for tunnel junctions and only three main semiconductor regions must be grown. We show that the nanowire heterojunction bipolar transistor solar cell design results in an optical performance similar to comparable planar devices, with the nanowires only covering 1/3 of the substrate area. Furthermore, it allows for the growth of lattice-mismatched semiconductor combinations, which increases the detailed balance efficiency limit

Optoelectronic III-V nanowire implementation of a neural network in a shared waveguide

Neural node components consisting of III-V nanowire devices are introduced. This allows for the construction of a small footprint specialized neural network. A broadcasting strategy is developed which removes the need for inter-node wiring. As a model system, an insect brain navigational circuit is chosen and successfully emulated using the introduced nodes and network architecture. The results are based on electronic transport simulations in each device as well as finite-difference time-domain simulations for the broadcasting of optical signals

Template-assisted vapour-liquid-solid growth of InP nanowires on (001) InP and Si substrates

We report on the synthesis of vertical InP nanowire arrays on (001) InP and Si substrates using template-assisted vapour-liquid-solid growth. A thick silicon oxide layer was first deposited on the substrates. The samples were then patterned by electron beam lithography and deep dry etching through the oxide layer down to the substrate surface. Gold seed particles were subsequently deposited in the holes of the pattern by the use of pulse electrodeposition. The subsequent growth of nanowires by the vapour-liquid-solid method was guided towards the [001] direction by the patterned oxide template, and displayed a high growth yield with respect to the array of holes in the template. In order to confirm the versatility and robustness of the process, we have also demonstrated guided growth of InP nanowire p-n junctions and InP/InAs/InP nanowire heterostructures on (001) InP substrates. Our results show a promising route to monolithically integrate III-V nanowire heterostructure devices with commercially viable (001) silicon platforms

Periodic nanowire structures

\u3cp\u3eWe show control of the crystal structure of indium phosphide (InP) and gallium phosphide (GaP) nanowires by impurity dopants. More importantly, we demonstrate that we can, once we have enforced the zinc blende crystal structure, induce twinning superlattices with long-range order in the length direction in the nanowires. The spacing of the superlattices is tuned by the wire diameter and the zinc dopant concentration. These findings have been quantitatively modelled based on the cross-sectional shape of the zinc-blende nanowires.\u3c/p\u3

Periodic nanowire structures

We show control of the crystal structure of indium phosphide (InP) and gallium phosphide (GaP) nanowires by impurity dopants. More importantly, we demonstrate that we can, once we have enforced the zinc blende crystal structure, induce twinning superlattices with long-range order in the length direction in the nanowires. The spacing of the superlattices is tuned by the wire diameter and the zinc dopant concentration. These findings have been quantitatively modelled based on the cross-sectional shape of the zinc-blende nanowires.</p

Towards Nanowire Tandem Junction Solar Cells on Silicon

The development of photovoltaics as a serious means of producing renewable energy has accelerated greatly in the last ten years, with prices for silicon-based solar cell systems dropping dramatically in the last few years. The next great opportunity for photovoltaics following this competitiveness in prices will be to enhance the cell and panel efficiencies. It is quite generally seen that the most viable platform on which this should be realized will be as augmented silicon solar cells, in which a top cell will be combined with the silicon bottom cell in a tandem configuration, by which the efficiency can be enhanced by a factor from 20% to 50%, depending on details of the approach. In this paper, we report on the status of one such approach, namely, with a top cell comprising III-V nanowires, connected to the bottom silicon cell in a two-terminal or four-terminal configuration. Among the most important opportunities, we show that a substrate-free growth, called Aerotaxy, offers a radical reduction in the total price picture. Besides the description of the key technical approaches, we also discuss the environmental issues

Towards Nanowire Tandem Junction Solar Cells on Silicon

The development of photovoltaics as a serious means of producing renewable energy has accelerated greatly in the last ten years, with prices for silicon-based solar cell systems dropping dramatically in the last few years. The next great opportunity for photovoltaics following this competitiveness in prices will be to enhance the cell and panel efficiencies. It is quite generally seen that the most viable platform on which this should be realized will be as augmented silicon solar cells, in which a top cell will be combined with the silicon bottom cell in a tandem configuration, by which the efficiency can be enhanced by a factor from 20% to 50%, depending on details of the approach. In this paper, we report on the status of one such approach, namely, with a top cell comprising III-V nanowires, connected to the bottom silicon cell in a two-terminal or four-terminal configuration. Among the most important opportunities, we show that a substrate-free growth, called Aerotaxy, offers a radical reduction in the total price picture. Besides the description of the key technical approaches, we also discuss the environmental issues