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Silvija Gradecak

Publications and source records attributed to Silvija Gradecak.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Dopant-free GaN/AlN/AlGaN radial nanowire heterostructures as high electron mobility transistors.

We report the rational synthesis of dopant-free GaN/AlN/AlGaN radial nanowire heterostructures and their implementation as high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). The radial nanowire heterostructures were prepared by sequential shell growth immediately following nanowire elongation using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies reveal that the GaN/AlN/AlGaN radial nanowire heterostructures are dislocation-free single crystals. In addition, the thicknesses and compositions of the individual AlN and AlGaN shells were unambiguously identified using cross-sectional high-angle annular darkfield scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). Transport measurements carried out on GaN/AlN/AlGaN and GaN nanowires prepared using similar conditions demonstrate the existence of electron gas in the undoped GaN/AlN/AlGaN nanowire heterostructures and also yield an intrinsic electron mobility of 3100 cm(2)/Vs and 21,000 cm(2)/Vs at room temperature and 5 K, respectively, for the heterostructure. Field-effect transistors fabricated with ZrO(2) dielectrics and metal top gates showed excellent gate coupling with near ideal subthreshold slopes of 68 mV/dec, an on/off current ratio of 10(7), and scaled on-current and transconductance values of 500 mA/mm and 420 mS/mm. The ability to control synthetically the electronic properties of nanowires using band structure design in III-nitride radial nanowire heterostructures opens up new opportunities for nanoelectronics and provides a new platform to study the physics of low-dimensional electron gases.

Aluminum Compounds↗

General synthesis of manganese-doped II-VI and III-V semiconductor nanowires.

A general approach for the synthesis of manganese-doped II-VI and III-V nanowires based on metal nanocluster-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition has been developed. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy studies of Mn-doped CdS, ZnS, and GaN nanowires demonstrate that the nanowires are single-crystal structures and homogeneously doped with controllable concentrations of manganese ions. Photoluminescence measurements of individual Mn-doped CdS and ZnS nanowires show characteristic pseudo-tetrahedral Mn2+ ((4)T1-->(6)A1) transitions that match the corresponding transitions in bulk single-crystal materials well. Photoluminescence studies of Mn-doped GaN nanowires suggest that manganese is incorporated as a neutral (Mn3+) dopant that partially quenches the GaN band-edge emission. The general and controlled synthesis of nanowires doped with magnetic metal ions opens up opportunities for fundamental physical studies and could lead to the development of nanoscale spintronic devices.

Crystallization↗

Core/multishell nanowire heterostructures as multicolor, high-efficiency light-emitting diodes.

We report the growth and characterization of core/multishell nanowire radial heterostructures, and their implementation as efficient and synthetically tunable multicolor nanophotonic sources. Core/multishell nanowires were prepared by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition with an n-GaN core and InxGa1-xN/GaN/p-AlGaN/p-GaN shells, where variation of indium mole fraction is used to tune emission wavelength. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy studies reveal that the core/multishell nanowires are dislocation-free single crystals with a triangular morphology. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy clearly shows shells with distinct chemical compositions, and quantitatively confirms that the thickness and composition of individual shells can be well controlled during synthesis. Electrical measurements show that the p-AlGaN/p-GaN shell structure yields reproducible hole conduction, and electroluminescence measurements demonstrate that in forward bias the core/multishell nanowires function as light-emitting diodes, with tunable emission from 365 to 600 nm and high quantum efficiencies. The ability to synthesize rationally III-nitride core/multishell nanowire heterostructures opens up significant potential for integrated nanoscale photonic systems, including multicolor lasers.

Journal Article↗

Imaging and analysis of nanowires.

We used vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) methods to synthesize discrete single-element semiconductor nanowires and multicomposition nanowire heterostructures, and then characterized their structure and composition using high-resolution electron microscopy (HRTEM) and analytical electron microscopy techniques. Imaging nanowires requires the modification of the established HRTEM imaging procedures for bulk material to take into consideration the effects of finite nanowire width and thickness. We show that high-resolution atomic structure images of nanowires less than 6 nm in thickness have lattice "streaking" due to the finite crystal lattice in two dimensions of the nanowire structure. Diffraction pattern analysis of nanowires must also consider the effects of a finite structure producing a large reciprocal space function, and we demonstrate that the classically forbidden 1/3 [422] reflections are present in the [111] zone axis orientation of silicon nanowires due to the finite thickness and lattice plane edge effects that allow incomplete diffracted beam cancellation. If the operating conditions are not carefully considered, we found that HRTEM image delocalization becomes apparent when employing a field emission transmission electron microscope (TEM) to image nanowires and such effects have been shown to produce images of the silicon lattice structure outside of the nanowire itself. We show that pseudo low-dose imaging methods are effective in reducing nanowire structure degradation caused by electron beam irradiation. We also show that scanning TEM (STEM) with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDS) is critical in the examination of multicomponent nanowire heterostructures.

Computer Simulation↗