Coherent two-mode dynamics of a nanowire force sensor

Classically coherent dynamics analogous to those of quantum two-level systems are studied in the setting of force sensing. We demonstrate quantitative control over the coupling between two orthogonal mechanical modes of a nanowire cantilever, through measurement of avoided crossings as we deterministically position the nanowire inside an electric field. Furthermore, we demonstrate Rabi oscillations between the two mechanical modes in the strong coupling regime. These results give prospects of implementing coherent two-mode control techniques for force sensing signal enhancement.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Questioning liquid droplet stability on nanowire tips: from theory to experiment

Liquid droplets sitting on nanowire (NW) tips constitute the starting point of the vapor-liquid-solid method of NW growth. Shape and volume of the droplet have been linked to a variety of growth phenomena ranging from the modification of growth direction, NW orientation, crystal phase, and even polarity. In this work we focus on numerical and theoretical analysis of the stability of liquid droplets on NW tips, explaining the peculiarity of this condition with respect to the wetting of planar surfaces. We highlight the role of droplet pinning at the tip in engineering the contact angle. Experimental results on the characteristics of In droplets of variable volume sitting on the tips or side facets of InAs NWs are also provided. This work contributes to the fundamental understanding of the nature of droplets contact angle at the tip of NWs and to the improvement of the engineering of such nanostructures

Optimizing the yield of A-polar GaAs nanowires to achieve defect-free zinc blende structure and enhanced optical functionality

Compound semiconductors exhibit an intrinsic polarity, as a consequence of the ionicity of their bonds. Nanowires grow mostly along the (111) direction for energetic reasons. Arsenide and phosphide nanowires grow along (111)B, implying a group V termination of the (111) bilayers. Polarity engineering provides an additional pathway to modulate the structural and optical properties of semiconductor nanowires. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time the growth of Ga-assisted GaAs nanowires with (111)A-polarity, with a yield of up to ∼50%. This goal is achieved by employing highly Ga-rich conditions which enable proper engineering of the energies of A and B-polar surfaces. We also show that A-polarity growth suppresses the stacking disorder along the growth axis. This results in improved optical properties, including the formation of AlGaAs quantum dots with two orders or magnitude higher brightness. Overall, this work provides new grounds for the engineering of nanowire growth directions, crystal quality and optical functionality

Bistability of Contact Angle and Its Role in Achieving Quantum-Thin Self-Assisted GaAs nanowires

Achieving quantum confinement by bottom-up growth of nanowires has so far been limited to the ability of obtaining stable metal droplets of radii around 10 nm or less. This is within reach for gold-assisted growth. Because of the necessity to maintain the group III droplets during growth, direct synthesis of quantum sized structures becomes much more challenging for self-assisted III–V nanowires. In this work, we elucidate and solve the challenges that involve the synthesis of gallium-assisted quantum-sized GaAs nanowires. We demonstrate the existence of two stable contact angles for the gallium droplet on top of GaAs nanowires. Contact angle around 130° fosters a continuous increase in the nanowire radius, while 90° allows for the stable growth of ultrathin tops. The experimental results are fully consistent with our model that explains the observed morphological evolution under the two different scenarios. We provide a generalized theory of self-assisted III–V nanowires that describes simultaneously the droplet shape relaxation and the NW radius evolution. Bistability of the contact angle described here should be the general phenomenon that pertains for any vapor–liquid–solid nanowires and significantly refines our picture of how nanowires grow. Overall, our results suggest a new path for obtaining ultrathin one-dimensional III–V nanostructures for studying lateral confinement of carriers

Imaging Stray Magnetic Field of Individual Ferromagnetic Nanotubes

We use a scanning nanometer-scale superconducting quantum interference device to map the stray magnetic field produced by individual ferromagnetic nanotubes (FNTs) as a function of applied magnetic field. The images are taken as each FNT is led through magnetic reversal and are compared with micromagnetic simulations, which correspond to specific magnetization configurations. In magnetic fields applied perpendicular to the FNT long axis, their magnetization appears to reverse through vortex states, that is, configurations with vortex end domains or in the case of a sufficiently short FNT with a single global vortex. Geometrical imperfections in the samples and the resulting distortion of idealized magnetization configurations influence the measured stray-field patterns

Segregation scheme of indium in AlGaInAs nanowire shells

Quaternary alloys enable the independent optimization of different semiconductor properties, such as the separate tuning of the band gap and the lattice constant. Nanowire core-shell structures should allow a larger range of compositional tuning as strain can be accommodated in a more effective manner than in thin films. Still, the faceted structure of the nanowire may lead to local segregation effects. Here, we explore the incorporation of indium in AlGaAs shells up to 25%. In particular, we show the effect of In incorporation on the energy shift of the AlGaInAs single-photon emitters present in the shell. We observe a redshift up to 300 meV as a function of the group-III site fraction of In. We correlate the shift with segregation at the nanoscale. We find evidence of the segregation of the group-III elements at different positions in the nanowire, not observed before. We propose a model that takes into account the strain distribution in the nanowire shell and the adatom diffusion on the nanowire facets to explain the observations. This work provides novel insights on the segregation phenomena necessary to engineer the composition of multidinary alloys

Anisotropic magnetoresistance of individual CoFeB and Ni nanotubes with values of up to 1,4% at room temperature

Magnetic nanotubes (NTs) are interesting for magnetic memory and magnonic applications. We report magnetotransport experiments on individual 10 to 20 μm long Ni and CoFeB NTs with outer diameters ranging from 160 to 390 nm and film thicknesses of 20 to 40 nm. The anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) effect studied from 2 K to room temperature (RT) amounted to 1.4% and 0.1% for Ni and CoFeB NTs, respectively, at RT. We evaluated magnetometric demagnetization factors of about 0.7 for Ni and CoFeB NTs having considerably different saturation magnetization. The relatively large AMR value of the Ni nanotubes is promising for RT spintronic applications. The large saturation magnetization of CoFeB is useful in different fields such as magnonics and scanning probe microscopy using nanotubes as magnetic tips