Synthesis and electrical characterization of intrinsic and in situ doped Si nanowires using a novel precursor

Perchlorinated polysilanes were synthesized by polymerization of tetrachlorosilane under cold plasma conditions with hydrogen as a reducing agent. Subsequent selective cleavage of the resulting polymer yielded oligochlorosilanes SinCl2n+2 (n = 2, 3) from which the octachlorotrisilane (n = 3, Cl8Si3, OCTS) was used as a novel precursor for the synthesis of single-crystalline Si nanowires (NW) by the well-established vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism. By adding doping agents, specifically BBr3 and PCl3, we achieved highly p- and n-type doped Si-NWs by means of atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD). These as grown NWs were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), as well as electrical measurements of the NWs integrated in four-terminal and back-gated MOSFET modules. The intrinsic NWs appeared to be highly crystalline, with a preferred growth direction of [111] and a specific resistivity of ρ = 6 kΩ·cm. The doped NWs appeared to be [112] oriented with a specific resistivity of ρ = 198 mΩ·cm for p-type Si-NWs and ρ = 2.7 mΩ·cm for n-doped Si-NWs, revealing excellent dopant activation

The high pressure phase transformation behavior of silicon nanowires

Si nanowires of 80–150 nm and 200–250 nm diameter are pressurized up to 22 GPa using a diamond anvil cell. Raman and x-ray diffraction data were collected during both compression and decompression. Electron microscopy images reveal that the nanowires retain a nanowire-like morphology (after high pressure treatment). On compression, dc-Si was observed to persist at pressures up to 19 GPa compared to 11 GPa for bulk-Si. On decompression, the metallic b-Sn phase was found to be more stable for Si nanowires compared with bulk-Si when lowering the pressure and was observed as low as 6 GPa. For the smallest nanowires studied (80–150 nm), predominately a-Si was obtained on decompression, whereas for larger nanowires (200–250 nm), clear evidence for the r8/bc8-Si phase was obtained. We suggest that the small volume of the individual Si nanowires compared with bulk-Si inhibits the nucleation of the r8-Si phase on decompression. This study shows that there is a size dependence in the high pressure behavior of Si nanowires during both compression and decompressionL.Q.H. acknowledges her support from an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. J.E.B. would like to acknowledge funding from the ARC Future Fellowship Scheme. A.L. acknowledges financial support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): Project No. P28175- N27 and e-beam lithography support by Manfred Reiche from the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle, German

Miniaturized Wide-Range Field-Emission Vacuum Gauge

Miniaturized vacuum gauges (MVGs) for the measurement range 5.7x10-7 to 1.1x10-2 mbar were fabricated in a self-aligned approach using focused ion beam (FIB) nanomachining and reactive ion etching (RIE). The MVG consists of two properly insulated electrodes integrated on top of an atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip, forming a coaxial embodiment. The special design enables us to vary the cathode-anode separation and the turn-on voltage changes accordingly. The experiments show that the MVGs operate at low bias potential and demonstrate very good I-P dependence over a wide pressure range

In-doped Sb nanowires grown by MOCVD for high speed phase change memories

We investigated the Phase Change Memory (PCM) capabilities of In-doped Sb nanowires (NWs) with diameters of (20-40) nm, which were self-assembled by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) via the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. The PCM behavior of the NWs was proved, and it was shown to have relatively low reset power consumption (~ 400 μW) and fast switching capabilities with respect to standard Ge-Sb-Te based devices. In particular, reversible set and reset switches by voltage pulses as short as 25 ns were demonstrated. The obtained results are useful for understanding the effects of downscaling in PCM devices and for the exploration of innovative PCM architectures and materials

In-doped Sb nanowires grown by MOCVD for high speed phase change memories

We investigated the Phase Change Memory (PCM) capabilities of In-doped Sb nanowires (NWs) with diameters of (20-40) nm, which were self-assembled by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) via the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. The PCM behavior of the NWs was proved, and it was shown to have relatively low reset power consumption (~ 400 μW) and fast switching capabilities with respect to standard Ge-Sb-Te based devices. In particular, reversible set and reset switches by voltage pulses as short as 25 ns were demonstrated. The obtained results are useful for understanding the effects of downscaling in PCM devices and for the exploration of innovative PCM architectures and materials. Keywords: Phase change memories, Nanowires, MOCVD, In-Sb, TEM, XR

Electromagnetic enhancement effect on the atomically abrupt heterojunction of Si/InAs heterostructured nanowires

Producción CientíficaSemiconductor nanowires (NWs) present a great number of unique optical properties associated with their reduced dimension and internal structure. NWs are suitable for the fabrication of defect free Si/III-V heterostructures, allowing the combination of the properties of both Si and III-V compounds. We present here a study of the electromagnetic (EM) resonances on the atomically abrupt heterojunction (HJ) of Si/InAs axially heterostructured NWs. We studied the electromagnetic response of Si/InAs heterojunctions sensed by means of micro-Raman spectroscopy. These measurements reveal a high enhancement of the Si Raman signal when the incident laser beam is focused right on the Si/InAs interface. The experimental Raman observations are compared to simulations of finite element methods for the interaction of the focused laser beam with the heterostructured NW. The simulations explain why the enhancement is detected on the Si signal when illuminating the HJ and also provide a physical framework to understand the interaction between the incident EM field and the heterostructured NW. The understanding of this process opens the possibility of controlling the light absorption/scattering on semiconductor NWs with the use of heterostructures while taking advantage of the properties of both Si and III-V semiconductors. This is important not only for current NW based photonic nanodevices, such as light sensors, but also for the design of new optoelectronic devices based on NWsJunta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación - Ref. Project Nos. VA293U13 and VA081U16)Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (Proyect CICYT MAT2010-20441-C02)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Projects No. ENE 2014-56069-C4-4-R