Large thermoelectric power factor enhancement observed in InAs nanowires.

We report the observation of a thermoelectric power factor in InAs nanowires that exceeds that predicted by a single-band bulk model by up to an order of magnitude at temperatures below about 20 K. We attribute this enhancement effect not to the long-predicted 1D subband effects but to quantum-dot-like states that form in electrostatically nonuniform nanowires as a result of interference between propagating states and 0D resonances.

Conductance enhancement of InAs/InP heterostructure nanowires by surface functionalization with oligo(phenylene vinylene)s.

We have investigated the electronic transport through 3 μm long, 45 nm diameter InAs nanowires comprising a 5 nm long InP segment as electronic barrier. After assembly of 12 nm long oligo(phenylene vinylene) derivative molecules onto these InAs/InP nanowires, we observed a pronounced, nonlinear I-V characteristic with significantly increased currents of up to 1 μA at 1 V bias, for a back-gate voltage of 3 V. As supported by our model calculations based on a nonequilibrium Green Function approach, we attribute this effect to charge transport through those surface-bound molecules, which electrically bridge both InAs regions across the embedded InP barrier.