The high degree of control over the morphology and optoelectronic properties of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) makes them attractive for applications such as thermoelectrics, quantum emitters, and photodetectors. However, NW growth is still not fully understood as many parameters play a role in the determination of NW morphology and crystal structure, which in turn governs resulting optoelectronic properties. We report tellurium-doped GaP NWs with positive tapering and radii measuring as low as 5 nm grown by the self-assisted vapor–liquid–solid mechanism using selective-area molecular beam epitaxy. The occurrence of ultrathin nanoantenna showed a dependence on pattern pitch (separation between NWs) with a predominance at 600 nm pitch, and exhibited radius oscillations that correlate with polytypic zincblende (ZB)/wurtzite (WZ) segments. A growth model explains the positive tapering of the NW leading to an ultrathin tip from the suppression of surface diffusion of Ga adatoms on the NW sidewalls by Te dopant flux. The model also provides a relationship between the radius modulations and the oscillations of the droplet contact angle, predicting the quasi-periodic radius oscillations and corresponding crystal phase transitions. Photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence at 10 K reveal distinct spectra corresponding to either the ZB or WZ phase. Emission above and below ~2.15 eV are associated with ZB and WZ, respectively. The characteristic WZ spectrum arises from a bound exciton and its phonon replicas, consistent with published results. The origin of emission in the ZB regime is less conclusive, but may originate from the splitting of a bound exciton by the field of an axial defect. The results presented in this thesis establish a link between NW growth, morphology, and optoelectronic properties to inform future work involving ultrathin NWs. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / A nanowire (NW) is a tiny rod with a length on the order of one millionth of a meter and diameter on the order of one billionth of a meter. We made gallium phosphide (GaP) NWs by stacking gallium and phosphorus atoms in a column. The NWs were separated by a constant distance. In some cases, we also added beryllium and tellurium atoms to our NWs. The addition of tellurium caused our NWs to grow into extremely sharp points, which we measured with a microscope that uses electrons instead of light. The microscope images also revealed that the arrangement of the atoms in the NW changes along its length. By detecting the light emission from the NWs, it was possible to distinguish between two unique arrangements. Overall, the small dimensions of our GaP NWs make them interesting for applications that require the emission or detection of single particles of light.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/29979 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Diak, Ethan |
| Contributors | LaPierre, Ray, Engineering Physics |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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