Sharpening the Interfaces of Axial Heterostructures in Self-Catalyzed AlGaAs Nanowires: Experiment and Theory.

The growth of III-III-V axial heterostructures in nanowires via the vapor-liquid-solid method is deemed to be unfavorable because of the high solubility of group III elements in the catalyst droplet. In this work, we study the formation by molecular beam epitaxy of self-catalyzed GaAs nanowires with AlxGa1-xAs insertions. The composition profiles are extracted and analyzed with monolayer resolution using high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy.

Abrupt GaP/GaAs Interfaces in Self-Catalyzed Nanowires.

We achieve the self-catalyzed growth of pure GaP nanowires and GaAs1-xPx/GaAs1-yPy nanowire heterostructures by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. Consecutive segments of nearly pure GaAs and GaP are fabricated by commuting the group V fluxes. We test different flux switching procedures and measure the corresponding interfacial composition profiles with atomic resolution using high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy.

Enhanced plasmonic properties of gold-catalysed semiconductor nanowires.

A key challenge for the development of plasmonic nanodevices is their integration into active semiconducting structures. Gold-catalysed semiconductor nanowires are promising candidates for their bottom-up growth process that aligns a single gold nanoparticle at each nanowire apex. Unfortunately these show extremely poor plasmonic properties.

Bundling of GaAs nanowires: a case of adhesion-induced self-assembly of nanowires.

The origin of deflections of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) induced by an electron beam in scanning electron microscopy has been subject to different interpretations. Similarly, the subsequent clumping together of NWs into bundles is frequently observed, but no interpretation has yet been advanced. Here we present results on the bundling of NWs following the intentional bending by an electron beam.