Title: Electrical contacts to single nanowires: a scalable method allowing multiple devices on a chip. Application to a single nanowire radial p-i-n junction

Authors: Pierre Blanc; Martin Heiss; Carlo Colombo; Anna Dalmau Mallorquì; Tina Saberi Safaei; Peter Krogstrup; Jesper Nygård; Anna Fontcuberta i Morral

Addresses: Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials (LMSC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland ' Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials (LMSC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland ' Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials (LMSC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland ' Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials (LMSC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland ' Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials (LMSC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland ' Nano-Science Center, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark ' Nano-Science Center, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark ' Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials (LMSC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

Abstract: Semiconductor nanowires are currently at the forefront of research in the areas of nanoelectronics and energy conversion. In all these studies, realising electrical contacts and statistically relevant measurements is a key issue. We propose a method that enables to contact hundreds of nanowires on a single wafer in an extremely fast electron beam lithography session. The method is applied to nanowire-based radial GaAs p-i-n junction. Current-voltage characteristics are shown, along with scanning photocurrent mapping.

Keywords: nanotechnology; electrical contacts; semiconductor nanowires; solar cells; radial p-i-n junctions; GaAs; gallium arsenide; nanoelectronics; energy conversion; electron beam lithography.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2013.053513

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2013 Vol.10 No.5/6/7, pp.419 - 432

Published online: 27 Apr 2013 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article