Selective area growth of in-plane InAs nanowires and nanowire networks on Si substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy.

In-plane InAs nanowires and nanowire networks show great potential to be used as building blocks for electronic, optoelectronic and topological quantum devices, and all these applications are keen to grow the InAs materials directly on Si substrates since it may enable nanowire electronic and quantum devices with seamless integration with Si platform. However, almost all the in-plane InAs nanowires and nanowire networks have been realized on substrates of III-V semiconductors. Here, we demonstrate the selective area epitaxial growth of in-plane InAs nanowires and nanowire networks on Si substrates.

High-quality vertically aligned InAs nanowires grown by molecular-beam epitaxy using Ag-In alloy segregation.

InAs nanowires show important potential applications in novel nanoelectronic devices, infrared optoelectronic devices and quantum devices, and all these applications require controllable growth of the InAs nanowires. However, the growth direction of metal-assisted InAs nanowires on Si substrates is often random. Here, we develop a new approach to grow vertically aligned InAs nanowires on Si (111) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy using Ag as catalysts.

Plateau Regions for Zero-Bias Peaks within 5% of the Quantized Conductance Value 2e^{2}/h.

Probing an isolated Majorana zero mode is predicted to reveal a tunneling conductance quantized at 2e^{2}/h at zero temperature. Experimentally, a zero-bias peak (ZBP) is expected and its height should remain robust against relevant parameter tuning, forming a quantized plateau. Here, we report the observation of large ZBPs in a thin InAs-Al hybrid nanowire device.

Suppressing Andreev Bound State Zero Bias Peaks Using a Strongly Dissipative Lead.

Hybrid semiconductor-superconductor nanowires are predicted to host Majorana zero modes that induce zero-bias peaks (ZBPs) in tunneling conductance. ZBPs alone, however, are not sufficient evidence due to the ubiquitous presence of Andreev bound states. Here, we implement a strongly resistive normal lead in InAs-Al nanowire devices and show that most of the expected Andreev bound state-induced ZBPs can be suppressed, a phenomenon known as environmental Coulomb blockade.

Large-Composition-Range Pure-Phase Homogeneous InAsSb Nanowires.

Narrow bandgap InAsSb nanowires show broad prospects for applications in wide spectrum infrared detectors, high-performance transistors, and quantum computation. Realizing such applications requires a fine control of the composition and crystal structure of nanowires. However, the fabrication of large-composition-range pure-phase homogeneous InAsSb nanowires remains a huge challenge.

Silver-assisted growth of high-quality InAs Sb nanowires by molecular-beam epitaxy.

InAs Sb nanowires show promise for use in nanoelectronics, infrared optoelectronics and topological quantum computation. Such applications require a high degree of growth control over the growth direction, crystal quality and morphology of the nanowires. Here, we report on the silver-assisted growth of InAs Sb nanowires by molecular-beam epitaxy for the first time.

Foreign-catalyst-free GaSb nanowires directly grown on cleaved Si substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy.

We have successfully fabricated foreign-catalyst-free GaSb nanowires directly on cleaved Si (111) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy. We find that GaSb nanowires with the absence and presence of Ga droplets at the tip can be simultaneously obtained on cleaved Si substrates without Ga pre-deposition. Systematic morphological and structural studies verify that the two kinds of nanowires presented have different growth mechanisms, which are vapor-solid and vapor-liquid-solid mechanisms.