Heterostructure axial GaAsSb ensemble near-infrared p-i-n based axial configured nanowire photodetectors.

In this work, we present a systematic design of growth experiments and subsequent characterization of self-catalyzed molecular beam epitaxially grown GaAsSb heterostructure axial p-i-n nanowires (NWs) on p-Si <111> for the ensemble photodetector (PD) application in the near-infrared region. Diverse growth methods have been explored to gain a better insight into mitigating several growth challenges by systematically studying their impact on the NW electrical and optical properties to realize a high-quality p-i-n heterostructure. The successful growth approaches are Te-dopant compensation to suppress the p-type nature of intrinsic GaAsSb segment, growth interruption for strain relaxation at the interface, decreased substrate temperature to enhance supersaturation and minimize the reservoir effect, higher bandgap compositions of the n-segment of the heterostructure relative to the intrinsic region for boosting the absorption, and the high-temperature ultra-high vacuumin situannealing to reduce the parasitic radial overgrowth. The efficacy of these methods is supported by enhanced photoluminescence (PL) emission, suppressed dark current in the heterostructure p-i-n NWs accompanied by increased rectification ratio, photosensitivity, and a reduced low-frequency noise level. The PD fabricated utilizing the optimized GaAsSb axial p-i-n NWs exhibited the longer wavelength cutoff at ∼1.1µm with a significantly higher responsivity of ∼120 A W-1(@-3 V bias) and a detectivity of 1.1 × 1013Jones operating at room temperature. Frequency and the bias independent capacitance in the pico-Farad (pF) range and substantially lower noise level at the reverse biased condition, show the prospects of p-i-n GaAsSb NWs PD for high-speed optoelectronic applications.

Revealing charge carrier dynamics and transport in Te-doped GaAsSb and GaAsSbN nanowires by correlating ultrafast terahertz spectroscopy and optoelectronic characterization.

Recent advances in the growth of III-V semiconductor nanowires (NWs) hold great promise for nanoscale optoelectronic device applications. It is established that a small amount of nitrogen (N) incorporation in III-V semiconductor NWs can effectively red-shift their wavelength of operation and tailor their electronic properties for specific applications. However, understanding the impact of N incorporation on non-equilibrium charge carrier dynamics and transport in semiconducting NWs is critical in achieving efficient semiconducting NW devices. In this work, ultrafast optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy has been used to study non-equilibrium carrier dynamics and transport in Te-doped GaAsSb and dilute nitride GaAsSbN NWs, with the goal of correlating these results with electrical characterization of their equilibrium photo-response under bias and low-frequency noise characteristics. Nitrogen incorporation in GaAsSb NWs led to a significant increase in the carrier scattering rate, resulting in a severe reduction in carrier mobility. Carrier recombination lifetimes of 33 ± 1 picoseconds (ps) and 147 ± 3 ps in GaAsSbN and GaAsSb NWs, respectively, were measured. The reduction in the carrier lifetime and photoinduced optical conductivities are due to the presence of N-induced defects, leading to deterioration in the electrical and optical characteristics of dilute nitride NWs relative to the non-nitride NWs. Finally, we observed a very fast rise time of âˆ¼2 ps for both NW materials, directly impacting their potential use as high-speed photodetectors.

Passivation efficacy study of Al2O3dielectric on self-catalyzed molecular beam epitaxially grown GaAs1-xSbxnanowires.

This work evaluates the passivation efficacy of thermal atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al2O3dielectric layer on self-catalyzed GaAs1-xSbxnanowires (NWs) grown using molecular beam epitaxy. A detailed assessment of surface chemical composition and optical properties of Al2O3passivated NWs with and without prior sulfur treatment were studied and compared to as-grown samples using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The XPS measurements reveal that prior sulfur treatment followed by Al2O3ALD deposition abates III-V native oxides from the NW surface. However, the degradation in 4K-PL intensity by an order of magnitude observed for NWs with Al2O3shell layer compared to the as-grown NWs, irrespective of prior sulfur treatment, suggests the formation of defect states at the NW/dielectric interface contributing to non-radiative recombination centers. This is corroborated by the Raman spectral broadening of LO and TO Raman modes, increased background scattering, and redshift observed for Al2O3deposited NWs relative to the as-grown. Thus, our work seems to indicate the unsuitability of ALD deposited Al2O3as a passivation layer for GaAsSb NWs.

A study of dopant incorporation in Te-doped GaAsSb nanowires using a combination of XPS/UPS, and C-AFM/SKPM.

We report the first study on doping assessment in Te-doped GaAsSb nanowires (NWs) with variation in Gallium Telluride (GaTe) cell temperature, using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), conductive-atomic force microscopy (C-AFM), and scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM). The NWs were grown using Ga-assisted molecular beam epitaxy with a GaTe captive source as the dopant cell. Te-incorporation in the NWs was associated with a positive shift in the binding energy of the 3d shells of the core constituent elements in doped NWs in the XPS spectra, a lowering of the work function in doped NWs relative to undoped ones from UPS spectra, a significantly higher photoresponse in C-AFM and an increase in surface potential of doped NWs observed in SKPM relative to undoped ones. The carrier concentration of Te-doped GaAsSb NWs determined from UPS spectra are found to be consistent with the values obtained from simulated I-V characteristics. Thus, these surface analytical tools, XPS/UPS and C-AFM/SKPM, that do not require any sample preparation are found to be powerful characterization techniques to analyze the dopant incorporation and carrier density in homogeneously doped NWs.

A study of n-doping in self-catalyzed GaAsSb nanowires using GaTe dopant source and ensemble nanowire near-infrared photodetector.

This work reports a comprehensive investigation of the effect of gallium telluride (GaTe) cell temperature variation (TGaTe) on the morphological, optical, and electrical properties of doped-GaAsSb nanowires (NWs) grown by Ga-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). These studies led to an optimum doping temperature of 550 °C for the growth of tellurium (Te)-doped GaAsSb NWs with the best optoelectronic and structural properties. Te incorporation resulted in a decrease in the aspect ratio of the NWs causing an increase in the Raman longitudinal optical/transverse optical vibrational mode intensity ratio, large photoluminescence emission with an exponential decay tail on the high energy side, promoting tunnel-assisted current conduction in ensemble NWs and significant photocurrent enhancement in the single nanowire. A Schottky barrier photodetector (PD) using Te-doped ensemble NWs with broad spectral range and a longer wavelength cutoff at ∼1.2 µm was demonstrated. These PDs exhibited responsivity in the range of 580-620 A W-1 and detectivity of 1.2-3.8 × 1012 Jones. The doped GaAsSb NWs have the potential for further improvement, paving the path for high-performance near-infrared (NIR) photodetection applications.