Simplifying Nanowire Hall Effect Characterization by Using a Three-Probe Device Design

Electrical characterization of nanowires is a time-consuming and challenging task due to the complexity of single nanowire device fabrication and the difficulty in interpreting the measurements. We present a method to measure Hall effect in nanowires using a three-probe device that is simpler to fabricate than previous four-probe nanowire Hall devices and allows characterization of nanowires with smaller diameter. Extraction of charge carrier concentration from the three-probe measurements using an analytical model is discussed and compared to simulations. The validity of the method is experimentally verified by a comparison between results obtained with the three-probe method and results obtained using four-probe nanowire Hall measurements. In addition, a nanowire with a diameter of only 65 nm is characterized to demonstrate the capabilities of the method. The three-probe Hall effect method offers a relatively fast and simple, yet accurate way to quantify the charge carrier concentration in nanowires and has the potential to become a standard characterization technique for nanowires

Nanostructures for Optoelectronics : Device Fabrication and Characterization

The nanoscale is an exciting domain when it comes to crystal growth, light-matter interaction and electronics. Especially for optoelectronics, semiconductor nanostructures have many advantages compared to traditional planar structures and are highly interesting for the next generation of solar cells, photodetectors and light emitting diodes. This dissertation explores device fabrication, and electrical and electro-optical characterization of semiconductor nanostructures, with an emphasis on materials and structures suitable for optoelectronics. The first part gives an overview of nanowire synthesis, doping and current challenges in the field. The second part describes doping characterization at the nanoscale using electrical measurement techniques. A fabrication scheme for making nanowire devices for Hall effect characterization and field-effect characterization is presented. Methods for simulating electric transport in nanowires to analyze measurements and determine doping concentration from Hall and field-effect measurements are discussed. Doping incorporation in InP core-shell nanowires is studied with Hall effect and correlated to optical characterization techniques. An experimental comparison between nanowire Hall effect measurements and field-effect measurements is presented. A three-probe device geometry to simplify Hall effect measurements is suggested and experimentally verified. Hall measurements are performed on nanowire-based platelet-structures. The last part of the dissertation describes fabrication and characterization of nanoscale optoelectronic devices. Nanowires with p-n junctions synthesized using the high-throughput and substrate-less Aerotaxy method are characterized and shown to have promising properties. Finally, fabrication and electro-optical characterization of nitride platelet LEDs with emission from UV to red is presented

Comparing Hall Effect and Field Effect Measurements on the Same Single Nanowire

We compare and discuss the two most commonly used electrical characterization techniques for nanowires (NWs). In a novel single-NW device, we combine Hall effect and back-gated and top-gated field effect measurements and quantify the carrier concentrations in a series of sulfur-doped InP NWs. The carrier concentrations from Hall effect and field effect measurements are found to correlate well when using the analysis methods described in this work. This shows that NWs can be accurately characterized with available electrical methods, an important result toward better understanding of semiconductor NW doping

Synthesis of Doped InP Core-Shell Nanowires Evaluated Using Hall Effect Measurements.

InP core-shell nanowire pn-junctions doped with Zn and Sn have been investigated in terms of growth morphology and shell carrier concentration. The carrier concentrations were evaluated using spatially resolved Hall effect measurements and show improved homogeneity compared to previous investigations, attributed to the use of Sn as the n-type dopant. Anisotropies in the growth rate of different facets are found for different doping levels that in turn affects the migration of Sn and In on the nanowire surface. A route for increasing the In migration length to obtain a more homogeneous shell thickness is presented

Study of carrier concentration in single InP nanowires by luminescence and Hall measurements

The free electron carrier concentrations in single InP core-shell nanowires are determined by micro-photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence (CL) and Hall effect measurements. The results from luminescence measurements were obtained by solving the Fermi-Dirac integral, as well as by analyzing the peak full width at half maximum (FWHM). Furthermore, the platform used for Hall effect measurements, combined with spot mode CL spectroscopy, is used to determine the carrier concentrations at specific positions along single nanowires. The results obtained via luminescence measurements provide an accurate and rapid feedback technique for the epitaxial development of doping incorporation in nanowires. The technique has been employed on several series of samples in which growth parameters, such as V/III-ratio, temperature and dopant flows, were investigated in an optimization procedure. The correlation between the Hall effect and luminescence measurements for extracting the carrier concentration of different samples were in excellent agreement

Electrical and optical evaluation of n-type doping in InxGa(1-x)P nanowires

To harvest the benefits of III-V nanowires in optoelectronic devices, the development of ternary materials with controlled doping is needed. In this work, we performed a systematic study of n-type dopant incorporation in dense InxGa(1-x)P nanowire arrays using tetraethyl tin (TESn) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as dopant precursors. The morphology, crystal structure and material composition of the nanowires were characterized by use of scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. To investigate the electrical properties, the nanowires were broken off from the substrate and mechanically transferred to thermally oxidized silicon substrates, after which electron beam lithography and metal evaporation were used to define electrical contacts to selected nanowires. Electrical characterization, including four-probe resistivity and Hall effect, as well as back-gated field effect measurements, is combined with photoluminescence spectroscopy to achieve a comprehensive evaluation of the carrier concentration in the doped nanowires. We measure a carrier concentration of ∼1 ×1016 cm-3 in nominally intrinsic nanowires, and the maximum doping level achieved by use of TESn and H2S as dopant precursors using our parameters is measured to be ∼2 ×1018 cm-3, and ∼1 ×1019 cm-3, respectively (by Hall effect measurements). Hence, both TESn and H2S are suitable precursors for a wide range of n-doping levels in InxGa(1-x)P nanowires needed for optoelectronic devices, grown via the vapor-liquid-solid mode