138 research outputs found

    A novel growth method to improve the quality of GaAs nanowires grown by Ga-assisted chemical beam epitaxy

    Get PDF
    The successful synthesis of high crystalline quality and high aspect ratio GaAs nanowires (NWs) with a uniform diameter is needed to develop advanced applications beyond the limits established by thin film and bulk material properties. Vertically aligned GaAs NWs have been extensively grown by Ga-assisted vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism on Si(111) substrates, and they have been used as building blocks in photovoltaics, optoelectronics, electronics, and so forth. However, the nucleation of parasitic species such as traces and nanocrystals on the Si substrate surface during the NW growth could affect significantly the controlled nucleation of those NWs, and therefore the resulting performance of NW-based devices. Preventing the nucleation of parasitic species on the Si substrate is a matter of interest, because they could act as traps for gaseous precursors and/or chemical elements during VLS growth, drastically reducing the maximum length of grown NWs, affecting their morphology and structure, and reducing the NW density along the Si substrate surface. This work presents a novel and easy to develop growth method (i.e., without using advanced nanolithography techniques) to prevent the nucleation of parasitic species, while preserving the quality of GaAs NWs even for long duration growths. GaAs NWs are grown by Ga-assisted chemical beam epitaxy on oxidized Si(111) substrates using triethylgallium and tertiarybutylarsine precursors by a two-step-based growth method presented here; this method includes a growth interruption for an oxidation on air between both steps of growth, reducing the nucleation of parasitic crystals on the thicker SiOx capping layer during the second and longer growth step. VLS conditions are preserved overtime, resulting in a stable NW growth rate of around 6 μm/h for growth times up to 1 h. Resulting GaAs NWs have a high aspect ratio of 85 and average radius of 35 nm. We also report on the existence of characteristic reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns associated with the epitaxial growth of GaAs NWs on Si(111) substrates, which have been analyzed and compared to the morphological characterization of GaAs NWs grown for different times under different conditions

    Photodetector Fabrication by Dielectrophoretic Assembly of GaAs Nanowires Grown by a Two-steps Method

    Get PDF
    GaAs nanowires (NWs) are promising advanced materials for the development of high performance photodetectors in the visible and infrared range. In this work, we optimize the epitaxial growth of GaAs NWs compared to conventional procedures, by introducing a novel two-steps growth method that exhibits an improvement of the resulting NW aspectratio and an enhancement of the NW growth rate. Moreover, we investigate the contactless manipulation of NWs using non-uniform electric fields to assemble a single GaAs NW on conductive electrodes, resulting in assembly yields above 90%/site and an alignment yields of around 95%. The electrical characteristics of the dielectrophoretic contact formed between the NW and the electrode have been measured, observing that the use of n-type Al-doped ZnO (AZO) as electrode material for NW alignment produces Schottky barrier contacts with the GaAs NW body. Moreover, our results show the fast fabrication of diodes with rectifying characteristics due to the formation of a low-resistance contact between the Ga catalytic droplet at the tip of the NW and the AZO electrode. The current-voltage measurements of a single GaAs NW diode under different illumination conditions show a strong light responsivity of the forward bias characteristic mainly produced by a change on the series resistance

    Single GaAs nanowire based photodetector fabricated by dielectrophoresis

    Get PDF
    Mechanical manipulation of nanowires (NWs) for their integration in electronics is still problematic because of their reduced dimensions, risking to produce mechanical damage to the NW structure and electronic properties during the assembly process. In this regard, contactless NW manipulation based methods using non-uniform electric fields, like dielectrophoresis (DEP) are usually much softer than mechanical methods, offering a less destructive alternative for integrating nanostructures in electronic devices. Here, we report a feasible and reproducible dielectrophoretic method to assemble single GaAs NWs (with radius 35–50 nm, and lengths 3–5 μm) on conductive electrodes layout with assembly yields above 90% per site, and alignment yields of 95%. The electrical characteristics of the dielectrophoretic contact formed between a GaAs NW and conductive electrodes have been measured, observing Schottky barrier like contacts. Our results also show the fast fabrication of diodes with rectifying characteristics due to the formation of a low-resistance contact between the Ga catalytic droplet at the tip of the NW when using Al doped ZnO as electrode. The current-voltage characteristics of a single Ga-terminated GaAs NW measured in dark and under illumination exhibit a strong sensitivity to visible light under forward bias conditions (around two orders of magnitude), mainly produced by a change on the series resistance of the device

    Growth of silicon- and carbon-doped GaAs by chemical beam epitaxy using H2-diluted DTBSi and CBr4 precursors

    Full text link
    A wide range of n- and p-type doping levels in GaAs layers grown by chemical beam epitaxy is achieved by using H2-diluted DTBSi and CBr4 as gas precursors for Si and C, respectively. We show that the doping level can be varied by modifying either the concentration or the flux of the diluted precursor. Specifically, we demonstrate carrier concentrations of 7.8 × 1017 –1.4 × 1019 cm−3 for Si, and 1 × 1017 –3.8 × 1020 cm−3 for C, as determined by Hall effect measurements. The dependence of Si incorporation on the diluted-precursor flux is found to be linear. In contrast, we observe a superlinear behavior for C doping. The dependence of the electron and hole mobility values on the carrier concentration as well as the analysis of the layers by low-temperature (12 K) photoluminescence spectroscopy indicate that the use of H2 for diluting DTBSi or CBr4 has no effect on the electrical and optical properties of GaAsThis work was supported by the former Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades under Project No. TEC2016-78433-R and the current Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under Project No. PID2020-114280RB-I00. S. Fernández-Garrido and N. López acknowledge the final support received through the Spanish program Ramón y Cajal (co-financed by the European Social Fund) under Grants No. RYC2016-19509 and RYC-2016-20588, respectively, from the former Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. N. López also acknowledges the funding received through the European ERC Starting Grant No. 75888

    Biochemical and cytological characterization of wheat/Aegilops ventricosa addition and transfer lines carrying chromosome 4MV

    Full text link
    The gene encoding a variant of alcohol dehydrogenase, Adh-, has been found to be associated with the chromosome of the Mv genome which is present in type 9 wheat/Aegilops ventricosa addition line, to which the genes for protein CM-4 and for a phosphatase variant, Aph-v, had been previously assigned. Transfer line H-93-33, which has 42 chromosomes and has been derived from the cross (Triticum turgidum x Ae. ventricosa) x T. aestivum, carries genes encoding all three biochemical markers. Linkage between these genes has been demonstrated by analysis of individual kernels of the F2 (H-93-33 x T. aestivum cv. Almatense H-10-15). A study of the hybrids of line H-93-33 with T. aestivum H-10-15 and with the 4DS ditelosomic line has confirmed that, as suspected, the linkage group corresponds to chromosome 4Mv from Ae. ventricosa. Additionally, it has been found that the previously reported resistance of line H-93-33 to powdery mildew (Erysiphe graminis) is also linked to the biochemical markers; this indicates that either the gene responsible for it is different from that in lines H-93-8 and H-93-35, or that a translocation between two different Mv chromosomes has occurred in line H-93-33

    Searching for glycosylated natural products in actinomycetes and identification of novel macrolactams and angucyclines

    Get PDF
    Many bioactive natural products are glycosylated compounds in which the sugar components usually participate in interaction and molecular recognition of the cellular target. Therefore, the presence of sugar moieties is important, in some cases essential, for bioactivity. Searching for novel glycosylated bioactive compounds is an important aim in the field of the research for natural products from actinomycetes. A great majority of these sugar moieties belong to the 6-deoxyhexoses and share two common biosynthetic steps catalyzed by a NDP-D-glucose synthase (GS) and a NDP-D-glucose 4,6-dehydratase (DH). Based on this fact, seventy one Streptomyces strains isolated from the integument of ants of the Tribe Attini were screened for the presence of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) for glycosylated compounds. Total DNAs were analyzed by PCR amplification using oligo primers for GSs and DHs and also for a NDP-D-glucose-2,3-dehydratases. Amplicons were used in gene disruption experiments to generate non-producing mutants in the corresponding clusters. Eleven mutants were obtained and comparative dereplication analyses between the wild type strains and the corresponding mutants allowed in some cases the identification of the compound coded by the corresponding cluster (lobophorins, vicenistatin, chromomycins and benzanthrins) and that of two novel macrolactams (sipanmycin A and B). Several strains did not show UPLC differential peaks between the wild type strain and mutant profiles. However, after genome sequencing of these strains, the activation of the expression of two clusters was achieved by using nutritional and genetic approaches leading to the identification of compounds of the cervimycins family and two novel members of the warkmycins family. Our work defines a useful strategy for the identification new glycosylated compounds by a combination of genome mining, gene inactivation experiments and the activation of silent biosynthetic clusters in Streptomyces strains
    corecore