Letter abstract


Nature Materials 3, 769 - 773 (2004)
Published online: 10 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/nmat1235

Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Optical, photonic and optoelectronic materials | Surface and thin films

Epitaxial growth of InP nanowires on germanium

Erik P. A. M. Bakkers1, Jorden A. van Dam2, Silvano De Franceschi2, Leo P. Kouwenhoven2, Monja Kaiser1, Marcel Verheijen1, Harry Wondergem1 & Paul van der Sluis1

Top

The growth of III–V semiconductors on silicon would allow the integration of their superior (opto-)electronic properties1, 2, 3 with silicon technology. But fundamental issues such as lattice and thermal expansion mismatch and the formation of antiphase domains have prevented the epitaxial integration of III–V with group IV semiconductors4, 5, 6. Here we demonstrate the principle of epitaxial growth of III–V nanowires on a group IV substrate. We have grown InP nanowires on germanium substrates by a vapour–liquid–solid7 method. Although the crystal lattice mismatch is large (3.7%), the as-grown wires are monocrystalline and virtually free of dislocations. X-ray diffraction unambiguously demonstrates the heteroepitaxial growth of the nanowires. In addition, we show that a low-resistance electrical contact can be obtained between the wires and the substrate.

Top
  1. Philips Research Laboratories, Professor Holstlaan 4, 5656 AA Eindhoven, The Netherlands
  2. Kavli Institute of NanoScience and ERATO Mesoscopic Correlation Project, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5046, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands

Correspondence to: Erik P. A. M. Bakkers1 e-mail: erik.bakkers@philips.com

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Materials science A ?bed of nails? on silicon

Nature News and Views (25 Nov 2004)


Extra navigation

Subscribe to Nature Materials

Subscribe

naturejobs

natureproducts


ADVERTISEMENT