5 research outputs found

    Diameter-Dependent Photocurrent in InAsSb Nanowire Infrared Photodetectors

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    Photoconductors using vertical arrays of InAs/InAs<sub>1ā€“<i>x</i></sub>Sb<sub><i>x</i></sub> nanowires with varying Sb composition <i>x</i> have been fabricated and characterized. The spectrally resolved photocurrents are strongly diameter dependent with peaks, which are red-shifted with diameter, appearing for thicker wires. Results from numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experimental data and reveal that the peaks are due to resonant modes that enhance the coupling of light into the wires. Through proper selection of wire diameter, the absorptance can be increased by more than 1 order of magnitude at a specific wavelength compared to a thin planar film with the same amount of material. A maximum 20% cutoff wavelength of 5.7 Ī¼m is obtained at 5 K for a wire diameter of 717 nm at a Sb content of <i>x</i> = 0.62, but simulations predict that detection at longer wavelengths can be achieved by increasing the diameter. Furthermore, photodetection in InAsSb nanowire arrays integrated on Si substrates is also demonstrated

    Colorful InAs Nanowire Arrays: From Strong to Weak Absorption with Geometrical Tuning

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    One-dimensional nanostructure arrays can show fascinatingly different, tunable optical response compared to bulk systems. Here we study theoretically and demonstrate experimentally how to engineer the reflection and absorption of light in epitaxially grown vertical arrays of InAs nanowires (NWs). A striking observation is optically visible colors of the array, which we show can be tuned depending on the geometrical parameters of the array. Specifically, larger diameter NW arrays absorb light more effectively out to a longer wavelength compared to smaller diameter arrays. Thus, controlling the diameter provides a way to tune the optically observable color of an array. We also find that arrays with a larger amount of InAs material reflect less light (or absorb more light) than arrays with less material. On the basis of these two trends, InAs NW arrays can be designed to absorb light either much more or much less efficiently than a thin film of an effective medium containing the same amount of InAs as the NW array. The tunable absorption and low area filling factor of the NW arrays compared to thin film bode well for III-V photovoltaics and photodetection

    Optical Far-Field Method with Subwavelength Accuracy for the Determination of Nanostructure Dimensions in Large-Area Samples

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    The physical, chemical, and biological properties of nanostructures depend strongly on their geometrical dimensions. Here we present a fast, noninvasive, simple-to-perform, purely optical method that is capable of characterizing nanostructure dimensions over large areas with an accuracy comparable to that of scanning electron microscopy. This far-field method is based on the analysis of unique fingerprints in experimentally measured reflectance spectra using full three-dimensional optical modeling. We demonstrate the strength of our method on large-area (millimeter-sized) arrays of vertical InP nanowires, for which we simultaneously determine the diameter and length as well as cross-sample morphological variations thereof. Explicitly, the diameter is determined with an accuracy better than 10 nm and the length with an accuracy better than 30 nm. The method is versatile and robust, and we believe that it will provide a powerful and standardized measurement technique for large-area nanostructure arrays suitable for both research and industrial applications

    Bipolar Photothermoelectric Effect Across Energy Filters in Single Nanowires

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    The photothermoelectric (PTE) effect uses nonuniform absorption of light to produce a voltage via the Seebeck effect and is of interest for optical sensing and solar-to-electric energy conversion. However, the utility of PTE devices reported to date has been limited by the need to use a tightly focused laser spot to achieve the required, nonuniform illumination and by their dependence upon the Seebeck coefficients of the constituent materials, which exhibit limited tunability and, generally, low values. Here, we use InAs/InP heterostructure nanowires to overcome these limitations: first, we use naturally occurring absorption ā€œhot spotsā€ at wave mode maxima within the nanowire to achieve sharp boundaries between heated and unheated subwavelength regions of high and low absorption, allowing us to use global illumination; second, we employ carrier energy-filtering heterostructures to achieve a high Seebeck coefficient that is tunable by heterostructure design. Using these methods, we demonstrate PTE voltages of hundreds of millivolts at room temperature from a globally illuminated nanowire device. Furthermore, we find PTE currents and voltages that change polarity as a function of the wavelength of illumination due to spatial shifting of subwavelength absorption hot spots. These results indicate the feasibility of designing new types of PTE-based photodetectors, photothermoelectrics, and hot-carrier solar cells using nanowires
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