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Summary Stacking perovskite solar cells onto crystalline silicon bottom cells in a monolithic tandem configuration enables power-conversion efficiencies (PCEs) well above those of their single-junction counterparts. However, state-of-the-art wide-band-gap perovskite films suffer from phase stability issues. Here, we show how carbazole as an additive to the perovskite precursor solution can not only reduce nonradiative recombination losses but, perhaps more importantly, also can suppress phase segregation under exposure to moisture and light illumination. This enables a stabilized PCE of 28.6% (independently certified at 28.2%) for a monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell over ∼1 cm2 and 27.1% over 3.8 cm2, built from a textured silicon heterojunction solar cell. The modified tandem devices retain ∼93% of their performance over 43 days in a hot and humid outdoor environment of almost 100% relative humidity over 250 h under continuous 1-sun illumination and about 87% during a 85/85 damp-heat test for 500 h, demonstrating the improved phase stability.

Summary Stable and efficient perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells require defect passivation and suppression of light-induced phase segregation of the wide-band-gap perovskite. Here, we report how molecules containing both electron-rich and electron-poor moieties, such as phenformin hydrochloride (PhenHCl), can satisfy both requirements, independent of the perovskite’s surface chemical composition and its grain boundaries and interfaces. PhenHCl-passivated wide-band-gap (∼1.68 eV) perovskite p-i-n single-junction solar cells deliver an open-circuit voltage (VOC) ∼100 mV higher than control devices, resulting in power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) up to 20.5%. These devices do not show any VOC losses after more than 3,000 h of thermal stress at 85°C in a nitrogen ambient. Moreover, PhenHCl passivation improves the PCE of textured perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells from 25.4% to 27.4%. Our findings provide critical insights for improved passivation of metal halide perovskite surfaces and the fabrication of highly efficient and stable perovskite-based single-junction and tandem solar cells.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) based on Br-2PACz ([2-(3,6-dibromo-9H-carbazol-9-yl)ethyl]phosphonic acid) 2PACz ([2-(9H-Carbazol-9-yl)ethyl]phosphonic acid) and MeO-2PACz ([2-(3,6-dimethoxy-9H-carbazol-9-yl)ethyl]phosphonic acid) molecules were investigated as hole-extracting interlayers in organic photovoltaics (OPVs). The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energies of these SAMs were measured at -6.01 and -5.30 eV for Br-2PACz and MeO-2PACz, respectively, and found to induce significant changes in the work function (WF) of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrodes upon chemical functionalization. OPV cells based on PM6 (poly[(2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl-3-fluoro)thiophen-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene))-alt-(5,5-(1',3'-di-2-thienyl-5',7'-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1',2'-c:4',5'-c']dithiophene-4,8-dione)]) : BTP-eC9 : PC71 BM ([6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester) using ITO/Br-2PACz anodes exhibited a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.4 %, outperforming devices with ITO/MeO-2PACz (14.5 %) and ITO/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT : PSS) (17.5 %). The higher PCE was found to originate from the much higher WF of ITO/Br-2PACz (-5.81 eV) compared to ITO/MeO-2PACz (4.58 eV) and ITO/PEDOT : PSS (4.9 eV), resulting in lower interface resistance, improved hole transport/extraction, lower trap-assisted recombination, and longer carrier lifetimes. Importantly, the ITO/Br-2PACz electrode was chemically stable, and after removal of the SAM it could be recycled and reused to construct fresh OPVs with equally impressive performance.

The massive deployment of fifth generation and internet of things technologies requires precise and high-throughput fabrication techniques for the mass production of radio frequency electronics. We use printable indium-gallium-zinc-oxide semiconductor in spontaneously formed self-aligned 100 GHz. Rectifier circuits constructed with these co-planar diodes can operate at ~47 GHz (extrinsic), making them the fastest large-area electronic devices demonstrated to date.

The frontier molecular energy levels of organic semiconductors are decisive for their fundamental function and efficiency in optoelectronics. However, the precise determination of these energy levels and their variation when using different techniques makes it hard to compare and establish design rules. In this work, the energy levels of 33 organic semiconductors via cyclic voltammetry (CV), density functional theory, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and low-energy inverse photoelectron spectroscopy are determined. Solar cells are fabricated to obtain key device parameters and relate them to the significant differences in the energy levels and offsets obtained from different methods. In contrast to CV, the photovoltaic gap measured using photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) correlates well with the experimental device V

Molecular doping has recently been shown to improve the operating characteristics of organic photovoltaics (OPVs). Here, we prepare neutral Diquat (DQ) and use it as n-dopant to improve the perform...

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide nanoribbons are touted as the future extreme device downscaling for advanced logic and memory devices but remain a formidable synthetic challenge. Here, we demonstrate a ledge-directed epitaxy (LDE) of dense arrays of continuous, self-aligned, monolayer and single-crystalline MoS2 nanoribbons on β-gallium (iii) oxide (β-Ga2O3) (100) substrates. LDE MoS2 nanoribbons have spatial uniformity over a long range and transport characteristics on par with those seen in exfoliated benchmarks. Prototype MoS2-nanoribbon-based field-effect transistors exhibit high on/off ratios of 108 and an averaged room temperature electron mobility of 65 cm2 V−1 s−1. The MoS2 nanoribbons can be readily transferred to arbitrary substrates while the underlying β-Ga2O3 can be reused after mechanical exfoliation. We further demonstrate LDE as a versatile epitaxy platform for the growth of p-type WSe2 nanoribbons and lateral heterostructures made of p-WSe2 and n-MoS2 nanoribbons for futuristic electronics applications. Aligned arrays of single-crystalline monolayer TMD nanoribbons with high aspect ratios, as well as their lateral heterostructures, are realized, with the growth directed by the ledges on the β-Ga2O3 substrate. This approach provides an epitaxy platform for advanced electronics applications of TMD nanoribbons.

Optoelectronic devices typically require low-resistance ohmic contacts between the optical active layers and metal electrodes. Failure to make such a contact often results in a Schottky barrier which inhibits charge extraction and, in turn, reduces device performance. Here, we introduce a universal solution processable metal-oxide/organic interfacial bilayer which forms a near-perfect ohmic contact between both organic and inorganic semiconductors and metals. This bilayer comprises a Nb-doped TiO2 metal oxide with enhanced electron mobility and reduced trap density compared to pristine TiO2, in combination with a metal-chelating organic molecule to make an intimate electrical contact with silver metallic electrodes. Using this universal interfacial bilayer, we demonstrate substantial efficiency improvements in organic solar cells (from 9.3% to 12.6% PCE), light emitting diodes (from 0.6 to 2.2 cd W−1) and transistors (from 19.7 to 13.9 V threshold voltage). In particular, a boost in efficiency for perovskite solar cells (from 18.7% up to 20.7% PCE) with up to 83% fill factor is achieved with no-operational lifetime loss for at least 1000 hours under continuous, full-spectrum illumination.

Simple, scalable and cost-effective synthesis of quality two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is critical for fundamental investigations but also for the widespread adoption of these low-dimensional materials in an expanding range of device applications. Here, we report on the liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and tungsten disulfide (WS2) in aqueous ammonia (NH3(aq.)) as a greener alternative to commonly used but less environmentally friendly solvents. The synthesized nanosheets can be prepared in high concentrations (0.5–1 mg mL−1) and exhibit excellent stoichiometric and structural quality with a semiconducting character. These characteristics make them ideal for application in organic optoelectronics, where optical transparency and suitable energetics are two important prerequisites. When MoS2 and WS2 are used as the hole transport layer materials in organic photovoltaics, cells with a power conversion efficiency of 14.9 and 15.6%, respectively, are obtained, highlighting the potential of the aqueous ammonia-based LPE method for the preparation of high quality TMDs. The method could potentially be extended to other TMDs.

The low carrier mobility of organic semiconductors and the high parasitic resistance and capacitance often encountered in conventional organic Schottky diodes, hinder their deployment in emerging radio frequency (RF) electronics. Here we overcome these limitations by combining self-aligned asymmetric nanogap electrodes (∼25 nm) produced by adhesion-lithography, with a high mobility organic semiconductor and demonstrate RF Schottky diodes able to operate in the 5G frequency spectrum. We used C16 IDT-BT, as the high hole mobility polymer, and studied the impact of p-doping on the diode performance. Pristine C16 IDT-BT-based diodes exhibit maximum intrinsic and extrinsic cutoff frequencies (fC ) of >100 and 6 GHz, respectively. This extraordinary performance is attributed primarily to the planar nature of the nanogap channel and the diode's small junction capacitance (< 2 pF). Doping of C16 IDT-BT with the molecular p-dopant C60 F48 , improves the diode's performance further by reducing the series resistance resulting to intrinsic and extrinsic fC of >100 and ∼14 GHz respectively, while the DC output voltage of a RF rectifier circuit increases by a tenfold. Our work highlights the importance of the planar nanogap architecture and paves the way for the use of organic Schottky diodes in large-area radio frequency electronics of the future. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has inherited the outstanding electronic, optical, thermal and mechanical properties of graphene to a large extent, while maintaining sufficient chemically active sites. Therefore, it has attracted a great deal of research attention in the fields of energy storage, electronics, photonics, catalysis, environmental engineering, etc. Currently, the most popular way to prepare rGO is to reduce graphene oxide, which is obtained by modified Hummer methods using tedious treatments in a harsh environment, to rGO flakes. Industrial applications demand advanced preparation methods that can mass produce highly uniform rGO sheets on arbitrary substrates. In this work, a one-step growth process is introduced that utilizes cellulose acetate as a precursor, without any catalysts, to produce uniform ultrathin rGO films on various substrates and free-standing rGO powders. Systematic spectroscopic and microscopic studies on the resulting rGO are performed. Prototypes of electronic and optoelectronic devices, such as field effect transistors (FETs), photodetectors, and humidity sensors, are fabricated and tested, demonstrating the intriguing applications of our rGO materials across a wide range of fields.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide nanoribbons are touted as the future extreme device downscaling for advanced logic and memory devices but remain a formidable synthetic challenge. Here, we demonstrate a ledge-directed epitaxy (LDE) of dense arrays of continuous, self-aligned, monolayer and single-crystalline MoS

Harnessing the omnipresent radio frequency (RF) waves intend to explore the new diode technologies as they determine the frequency of operation and ultimately the power conversion efficiency. Recently, a considerable effort focused on performance, reliable and low-cost fabrication methods. Here, we report the fabrication of sub-20 nm co-planar, asymmetric and self-forming nanogap electrodes by adhesion lithography (a-Lith) as an alternative, low-cost and large-area patterning technique. Moreover, solution processing and rapid Flash Lamp Annealing (FLA) route employed to fabricate Schottky diodes. These diodes are having more than 104 On/Off ratio, low series resistance and junction capacitance due to the novel co-planar architecture and thus operating beyond 10 GHz. This paves the way to a radically new diode technology that has a huge impact on the IoT – Wireless Energy Harvesting (WEH) and RFID system.

Solution-processed metal halide perovskite (MHP) single crystals (SCs) are in high demand for a growing number of printed electronic applications due to their superior optoelectronic properties compared to polycrystalline thin films. There is an urgent need to make SC fabrication facile, scalable, and compatible with the printed electronic manufacturing infrastructure. Here, a universal cosolvent evaporation (CSE) strategy is presented by which perovskite SCs and arrays are produced directly on substrates via printing and coating methods within minutes at room temperature from drying droplets. The CSE strategy successfully guides the supersaturation via controlled drying of droplets to suppress all crystallization pathways but one, and is shown to produce SCs of a wide variety of 3D, 2D, and mixed-cation/halide perovskites with consistency. This approach works with commonly used precursors and solvents, making it universal. Importantly, the SC consumes the precursor in the droplet, which enables the large-scale fabrication of SC arrays with minimal residue. Direct on-chip fabrication of 3D and 2D perovskite photodetector devices with outstanding performance is demonstrated. The approach shows that any MHP SC can now be manufactured on substrates using precision printing and scalable, high-throughput coating methods.

Zero-dimensional perovskite-related structures (0D-PRS) are a new frontier of perovskite-based materials. 0D-PRS, commonly synthesized in powder form, manifest distinctive optical properties such as strong photoluminescence (PL), narrow emission line width, and high exciton binding energy. These properties make 0D-PRS compelling for several types of optoelectronic applications, including phosphor screens and electroluminescent devices. However, it would not be possible to rationally design the chemistry and structure of these materials, without revealing the origins of their optical behavior, which is contradictory to the well-studied APbX3 perovskites. In this work, we synthesize single crystals of Cs4PbBr6 0D-PRS, and investigated the origins of their unique optical and electronic properties. The crystals exhibit a PL quantum yield higher than 40%, the highest reported for perovskite-based single crystals. Time-resolved and temperature dependent PL studies, supported by DFT calculations, and structural ...

Engineering the surface energy through careful manipulation of the surface chemistry is a convenient approach to control quantum confinement and structure dimensionality during nanocrystal growth. Here, we demonstrate that the introduction of pyridine during the synthesis of methylammonium lead bromide (MAPbBr3) perovskite nanocrystals can transform three-dimensional (3D) cubes into two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that pyridine preferentially binds to Pb atoms terminating the surface, driving the selective 2D growth of the nanostructures. These 2D nanostructures exhibit strong quantum confinement effects, high photoluminescence quantum yields in the visible spectral range, and efficient charge transfer to molecular acceptors. These qualities indicate the suitability of the synthesized 2D nanostructures for a wide range of optoelectronic applications.

Hybrid perovskite single crystals have garnered tremendous research attention and are expected to be next-generation materials for high-efficiency photoactive devices. Therefore, it is fundamentally important to understand the relationship between the optoelectronic properties of these materials and the marginally exploited surface chemistry in ambient air. For instance, a strong surface disorder, including hydration and ion migration, can possibly lead to extremely different optical and electronic properties at the surface compared to the bulk of the single crystal (SC). From this perspective, we evaluate the key variables that underlie the perovskite SC surface restructuring in ambient air and discuss their merits and limitations. In addition, a comprehensive picture of surface disordering, the remarkable change in the charge carrier dynamics and carrier mobility, surface hydration, and the effect of ion migration on the surface behavior will be discussed. Finally, surface passivation methods are highli...

Perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have become leading candidates for solution-processed optoelectronics applications. While substantial work has been published on 3-D perovskite phases, the NC form of the zero-dimensional (0-D) phase of this promising class of materials remains elusive. Here we report the synthesis of a new class of colloidal semiconductor NCs based on Cs4PbBr6, the 0-D perovskite, enabled through the design of a novel low-temperature reverse microemulsion method with 85% reaction yield. These 0-D perovskite NCs exhibit high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) in the colloidal form (PLQY: 65%), and, more importantly, in the form of thin film (PLQY: 54%). Notably, the latter is among the highest values reported so far for perovskite NCs in the solid form. Our work brings the 0-D phase of perovskite into the realm of colloidal NCs with appealingly high PLQY in the film form, which paves the way for their practical application in real devices.

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite crystals have recently become one of the most important classes of photoactive materials in the solar cell and optoelectronic communities. Albeit improvements have focused on state-of-the-art technology including various fabrication methods, device architectures, and surface passivation, progress is yet to be made in understanding the actual operational temperature on the electronic properties and the device performances. Therefore, the substantial effect of temperature on the optoelectronic properties, charge separation, charge recombination dynamics, and photoconversion efficiency are explored. The results clearly demonstrated a significant enhancement in the carrier mobility, photocurrent, charge carrier lifetime, and solar cell performance in the 60 ± 5 °C temperature range. In this temperature range, perovskite crystal exhibits a highly symmetrical relaxed cubic structure with well-aligned domains that are perpendicular to a principal axis, thereby remarkably improving the device operation. This finding provides a new key variable component and paves the way toward using perovskite crystals in highly efficient photovoltaic cells.

Hybrid perovskite crystals have emerged as an important class of semiconductors because of their remarkable performance in optoelectronics devices. The interface structure and chemistry of these crystals are key determinants of the device’s performance. Unfortunately, little is known about the intrinsic properties of the surfaces of perovskite materials because extrinsic effects, such as complex microstructures, processing conditions, and hydration under ambient conditions, are thought to cause resistive losses and high leakage current in solar cells. We reveal the intrinsic structural and optoelectronic properties of both pristinely cleaved and aged surfaces of single crystals. We identify surface restructuring on the aged surfaces (visualized on the atomic-scale by scanning tunneling microscopy) that lead to compositional and optical bandgap changes as well as degradation of carrier dynamics, photocurrent, and solar cell device performance. The insights reported herein clarify the key variables involved...

The application of liquid-exfoliated 2D transition metal disulfides (TMDs) as the hole transport layers (HTLs) in nonfullerene-based organic solar cells is reported. It is shown that solution processing of few-layer WS

Despite impressive power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) reported for lab-scale perovskite solar cells (PSCs), obtaining large-area devices with similar performance remains challenging. Fundamentally, this can largely be attributed to a polarity mismatch between the perovskite-precursor solution and the underlying hydrophobic contact materials, resulting in perovskite films of insufficient quality for scaled devices. Specifically, for p-i-n devices, the commonly used DMF/DMSO co-solvent has a significant polarity mismatch with its underlying hole-transporting layer, PTAA. Here, the role of MAPbI3•solvent adduct interaction with the PTAA surface towards the formation of micro- and nano-scale pinholes is elucidated in detail. Replacing DMSO with NMP in the co-solvent system changes the binding energy profoundly, enabling uniform and dense films over large areas. The PCE of DMF/NMP ink-based devices drops slightly with increasing active device area, from 21.5% (0.1 cm2) to 19.8% (6.8 cm2), in comparison with conventional DMF/DMSO ink. This work opens a pathway towards the scalability of solution-processed perovskite optoelectronic devices.

The research presented here was supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under Award No: CRF-2015-2634-CRG4 and CRF-2016-2996-CRG5. J. H. H. thanks the financial support from City University of Hong Kong.

Large-area manufacturing of flexible nanoscale electronics has long been sought by the printed electronics industry. However, the lack of a robust, reliable, high throughput and low-cost technique that is capable of delivering high-performance functional devices has hitherto hindered commercial exploitation. Herein we report on the extensive range of capabilities presented by adhesion lithography (a-Lith), an innovative patterning technique for the fabrication of coplanar nanogap electrodes with arbitrarily large aspect ratio. We use this technique to fabricate a plethora of nanoscale electronic devices based on symmetric and asymmetric coplanar electrodes separated by a nanogap

Perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have become leading candidates for solution-processed optoelectronics applications. While substantial work has been published on 3-D perovskite phases, the NC form of the zero-dimensional (0-D) phase of this promising class of materials remains elusive. Here we report the synthesis of a new class of colloidal semiconductor NCs based on Cs

Understanding defect chemistry, particularly ion migration, and its significant effect on the surface’s optical and electronic properties is one of the major challenges impeding the development of hybrid perovskite-based devices. Here, using both experimental and theoretical approaches, we demonstrate that the surface layers of the perovskite crystals may acquire a high concentration of positively charged halide vacancies with the complementary negatively charged halide ions pushed to the surface. This charge separation near to the surface generate an electric field that can induce a shift in the optical band gap of the surface layers to higher energy compared to the bulk counterpart. We found that the charge separation, electric field and the amplitude of shift in the bandgap strongly depend on the halides and organic moieties of perovskites crystals. Our findings reveal the peculiarity of surface effects that is currently limiting the application of perovskite crystals and more importantly explain their origins, thus enabling viable surface passivation strategies to remediate them.

The application of liquid-exfoliated 2D transition metal disulfides (TMDs) as the hole transport layers (HTLs) in nonfullerene-based organic solar cells is reported. It is shown that solution processing of few-layer WS2 or MoS2 suspensions directly onto transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes changes their work function without the need for any further treatment. HTLs comprising WS2 are found to exhibit higher uniformity on ITO than those of MoS2 and consistently yield solar cells with superior power conversion efficiency (PCE), improved fill factor (FF), enhanced short-circuit current (JSC ), and lower series resistance than devices based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) and MoS2 . Cells based on the ternary bulk-heterojunction PBDB-T-2F:Y6:PC71 BM with WS2 as the HTL exhibit the highest PCE of 17%, with an FF of 78%, open-circuit voltage of 0.84 V, and a JSC of 26 mA cm-2 . Analysis of the cells' optical and carrier recombination characteristics indicates that the enhanced performance is most likely attributed to a combination of favorable photonic structure and reduced bimolecular recombination losses in WS2 -based cells. The achieved PCE is the highest reported to date for organic solar cells comprised of 2D charge transport interlayers and highlights the potential of TMDs as inexpensive HTLs for high-efficiency organic photovoltaics.

ZnO nanowires (NWs) have been successfully synthesized using a hydrothermal technique on both glass and silicon substrates initially coated with a sputtered ZnO thin film layer. Varying ZnO seed layer thicknesses were deposited to determine the effect of seed layer thickness on the quality of ZnO NW growth. The effect of growth time on the formation of ZnO NWs was also studied. Experimental results show that these two parameters have an important effect on formation, homogeneity and vertical orientation of ZnO NWs. Silicon nanowires were synthesized by a Ag-assisted electroless etching technique on an n-type Si (100) wafer. SEM observations have revealed the formation of vertically-aligned Si NWs with etching depth of ∼700 nm distributed over the surface of the Si. An electron-beam evaporated chalcopyrite thin film consisting of p-type AgGa0.5In0.5Se2 with ∼800 nm thickness was deposited on the n-type ZnO and Si NWs for the construction of nanowire based heterojunction solar cells. For the Si NW based solar cell, from a partially illuminated area of the solar cell, the open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, fill factor and power conversion efficiency were 0.34 V, 25.38 mA cm−2, 63% and 5.50%, respectively. On the other hand, these respective parameters were 0.26 V, 3.18 mA cm−2, 35% and 0.37% for the ZnO NW solar cell.

The final step of the bearing production line constitutes the inspection of the bearing which is mostly performed by visual inspection. Three groups of bearings namely, properly assembled samples, conversely assembled rubber seal and samples where rubber seals were missing are classified using visible range images of these samples. According to the proposed method, extraction of seal regions from the bearing images using circular Hough transform is followed by a higher-order statistical analysis to finalize the classification. Experimental results show that this system may be employed as an assistive tool for bearing inspectors.

We describe the fabrication of highly sensitive graphene based field effect transistor (FET) biosensors with a cost-effective approach and their application in label-free Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) detection. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown graphene layers were used to achieve mass production of FET devices via conventional photolithographic patterning. Non-covalent functionalization of the graphene layer with 1-Pyrenebutanoic acid succinimidyl ester ensures high conductivity and sensitivity of the FET device. The present device could reach a detection limit as low as 3 x 10(-9) M.

Deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) provide exciting opportunities as templates in self assembled architectures and functionality in terms of optical and electronic properties. In this study, we investigate the effects of DNA and metalized DNA sequences in polymer fullerene bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. These effects are characterized via optical, quantum efficiency and current-voltage measurements. We demonstrate that by placing on the hole collection side of the active layer, DNA and Pt-DNA sequences lead to an increase in the power conversion efficiency (POE) by %16 and %30, respectively. Then, we examine the metallization process with SEM and AFM images and optimized the metallic cluster formation on DNA by changing the duration of steps in the process. Furthermore, we studied the electrical charge characteristics of our DNA layer by using capacitance voltage (C-V) measurements to explain the increase in hole collection. The shift in the C-V measurements showed that spray coated DNA formed a negatively charged layer which can increase the hole collection on the cathode side.

Compositionally modulated InSb nanowires (200 nm in diameter) were electrodeposited from acidic chloride baths using anodized alumina membrane as templates. The compositionally modulated In x Sb 1-x (x ∼ 0.3, x ∼ 0.5) nanowires were synthesized by applying potential pulses between -0.6 V and -1.8 V. The segment thickness was controlled down to tens of nm by adjusting the deposition time. In this paper, we report the characteristics of the junctions by using tunneling AFM, which utilizes a conductive AFM probe to detect current passing through the sample and the probe while simultaneously acquiring a topographic image. Preliminary tunneling AFM measurements taken at room temperature of a 200 nm homojunction InSb Nanowire shows that the current-voltage characteristics of the two different segments exhibit a device resistance dependence that is proportional to the Sb content of the device.

Synthesis of InSb nanowires using a chemical vapor deposition technique, as a function of growth temperature and time, was investigated. High aspect ratio InSb nanowires, having a diameter of about 5–10 nm, were grown at 400 °C for 1 h on InSb (1 1 1) substrate onto which 60 nm Au particle was used as a metal catalyst. The synthesized InSb nanowires had zinc blend single crystal structure without any stacking faults, and they were covered with a thin (∼1 nm thick) amorphous layer. Electrical characterization of InSb nanowires was conducted utilizing a back-gated SNWFET. Device characterization demonstrated that NWs were n-type and exhibited a high Ion/Ioff ratio of 106 and device resistance of 250 kΩ.

Y.F. and A.S. contributed equally to this work. The authors acknowledge the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) for the financial support.

The work reported here was supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).