Atomic force microscopy bending tests of a suspended rod-shaped object: Accounting for object fixing conditions.

The technique of atomic force microscopy (AFM) bending tests of a suspended nano-object (scroll, tube, rod) makes it possible to calculate the Young's modulus of the material it is made of based on experimental data. However, the calculation results involve a large error due to uncertain conditions (console or bridge) of fixing the test object. One of the ways to reduce this error is based on the theoretical consideration of consoles or bridges as beams with one or two ends resting on Winkler elastic foundations.

Effect of crystal structure on the Young's modulus of GaP nanowires.

Young's modulus of tapered mixed composition (zinc-blende with a high density of twins and wurtzite with a high density of stacking faults) gallium phosphide (GaP) nanowires (NWs) was investigated by atomic force microscopy. Experimental measurements were performed by obtaining bending profiles of as-grown inclined GaP NWs deformed by applying a constant force to a series of NW surface locations at various distances from the NW/substrate interface. Numerical modeling of experimental data on bending profiles was done by applying Euler-Bernoulli beam theory.

Effect of the Uniaxial Compression on the GaAs Nanowire Solar Cell.

Research regarding ways to increase solar cell efficiency is in high demand. Mechanical deformation of a nanowire (NW) solar cell can improve its efficiency. Here, the effect of uniaxial compression on GaAs nanowire solar cells was studied via conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) supported by numerical simulation.

Control of Conductivity of InGaAs Nanowires by Applied Tension and Surface States.

The electronic properties of semiconductor AIIIBV nanowires (NWs) due to their high surface/volume ratio can be effectively controlled by NW strain and surface electronic states. We study the effect of applied tension on the conductivity of wurtzite InGaAs ( ∼ 0.8) NWs.

Half-disk laser: insight into the internal mode structure of laser resonators.

Usually electromagnetic modes inside a laser resonator are a matter of the theoretical studies. In a sense we manage "to have a look into a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator" and observe how the resonator modes arrange in reality. The picture occurs to be quite different from the commonly used Bessel modes in a disk resonator.

Unified mechanism of the surface Fermi level pinning in III-As nanowires.

Fermi level pinning at the oxidized (110) surfaces of III-As nanowires (GaAs, InAs, InGaAs, AlGaAs) is studied. Using scanning gradient Kelvin probe microscopy, we show that the Fermi level at oxidized cleavage surfaces of ternary Al Ga As (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.45) and Ga In As (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) alloys is pinned at the same position of 4.

Young's Modulus of Wurtzite and Zinc Blende InP Nanowires.

The Young's modulus of thin conical InP nanowires with either wurtzite or mixed "zinc blende/wurtzite" structures was measured. It has been shown that the value of Young's modulus obtained for wurtzite InP nanowires (E = 130 ± 30 GPa) was similar to the theoretically predicted value for the wurtzite InP material (E = 120 ± 10 GPa). The Young's modulus of mixed "zinc blende/wurtzite" InP nanowires (E = 65 ± 10 GPa) appeared to be 40% less than the theoretically predicted value for the zinc blende InP material (E = 110 GPa).

Nitride surface passivation of GaAs nanowires: impact on surface state density.

Surface nitridation by hydrazine-sulfide solution, which is known to produce surface passivation of GaAs crystals, was applied to GaAs nanowires (NWs). We studied the effect of nitridation on conductivity and microphotoluminescence (μ-PL) of individual GaAs NWs using conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) and confocal luminescent microscopy (CLM), respectively. Nitridation is found to produce an essential increase in the NW conductivity and the μ-PL intensity as well evidence of surface passivation.