Spatially Resolved Photoelectric Performance of Axial GaAs Nanowire pn-Diodes
),
Download citation
530
Views
19
Downloads
30
Crossref
N/A
WoS
29
Scopus
0
CSCD
The spatially resolved photoelectric response of a single axial GaAs nanowire pn-diode has been investigated with scanning photocurrent and Kelvin probe force microscopy. Optical generation of carriers at the pn-junction has been shown to dominate the photoresponse. A photocurrent of 88 pA, an open circuit voltage of 0.56 V and a fill factor of 69% were obtained under AM 1.5 G conditions. The photocurrent followed the increasing photoexcitation with 0.24 A/W up to an illumination density of at least 90 W/cm2, which is important for potential applications in concentrator solar cells.
menu
Spatially Resolved Photoelectric Performance of Axial GaAs Nanowire pn-Diodes
),
Abstract
The spatially resolved photoelectric response of a single axial GaAs nanowire pn-diode has been investigated with scanning photocurrent and Kelvin probe force microscopy. Optical generation of carriers at the pn-junction has been shown to dominate the photoresponse. A photocurrent of 88 pA, an open circuit voltage of 0.56 V and a fill factor of 69% were obtained under AM 1.5 G conditions. The photocurrent followed the increasing photoexcitation with 0.24 A/W up to an illumination density of at least 90 W/cm2, which is important for potential applications in concentrator solar cells.
References(41)
Gudiksen, M. S.; Lauhon, L. J.; Wang, J.; Smith, D. C.; Lieber, C. M. Growth of nanowire superlattice structures for nanoscale photonics and electronics. Nature 2002, 415, 617–620.
Borg, B. M.; Dick, K. A.; Ganjipour, B.; Pistol, M. -E.; Wernersson, L. -E.; Thelander, C. InAs/GaSb heterostructure nanowires for tunnel field-effect transistors. Nano Lett. 2010, 10, 4080–4085.
Wallentin, J.; Persson, J. M.; Wagner, J. B.; Samuelson, L.; Deppert, K.; Borgström, M. T. High-performance single nanowire tunnel diodes. Nano Lett. 2010, 10, 974–979.
Fuhrer, A.; Fröberg, L. E.; Pedersen, J. N.; Larsson, M. W.; Wacker, A.; Pistol, M. -E.; Samuelson, L. Few electron double quantum dots in InAs/InP nanowire heterostructures. Nano Lett. 2007, 7, 243–246.
Tomioka, K.; Motohisa, J.; Hara, S.; Hiruma, S.; Fukui, T. GaAs/AlGaAs core multishell nanowire-based light-emitting diodes on Si. Nano Lett. 2010, 10, 1639–1644.
Svensson, C. P. T.; Martensson, T.; Trägardh, J.; Larsson, C.; Rask, M.; Hessman, D.; Samuelson, L.; Ohlsson, J. Monolithic GaAs/InGaP nanowire light emitting diodes on silicon. Nanotechnology, 2008, 19, 305201.
Garnett, E.; Yang, P. Light trapping in silicon nanowire solar cells. Nano Lett. 2010, 10, 1082–1087.
Diedenhofen, S. L.; Vecchi, G.; Algra, R. E.; Hartsuiker, A.; Muskens, O. L.; Immink, G.; Bakkers, E. P. A. M.; Vos, W. L.; Rivas, J. G. Broad-band and omnidirectional antireflection coatings based on semiconductor nanorods. Adv. Mat. 2009, 21, 973–978.
Borgström, M. T.; Wallentin, J.; Heurlin, M.; Fält, S.; Wickert, P.; Leene, J.; Magnusson, M. H.; Deppert, K.; Samuelson, L. Nanowires with promise for photovoltaics. IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quant. Electron. 2010, 99, 1–12.
Heurlin, M.; Wickert, P.; Fält, S.; Borgström, M. T.; Deppert, K.; Samuelson, L.; Magnusson, M. H. Axial InP nanowire tandem junction grown on a silicon substrate. Nano Lett. 2011, 11, 2028–2031.
Tian, B.; Zheng, X.; Kempa, T. J.; Fang, Y.; Yu, N.; Yu, G. Huang, J.; Lieber, C. M. Coaxial silicon nanowires as solar cells and nanoelectronic power sources. Nature, 2007, 449, 885–889.
Kempa, T. J.; Tian, B.; Kim, D. R.; Hu, J.; Zheng, X.; Lieber, C. M. Single and tandem axial p–i–n nanowire photovoltaic devices. Nano Lett. 2008, 8, 3456–3460.
King, R. R.; Law, D. C.; Edmondson, K. M.; Fetzer, C. M.; Kinsey, G. S.; Yoon, H.; Sherif, R. A.; Karam, N. H. 40% efficient metamorphic GaInP/GaInAs/Ge multijunction solar cells. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2007, 90, 183516.
van Kouwen, M. P.; van Weert, M. H. M.; Reimer, M. E.; Akopian, N.; Perinetti, U.; Algra, R. E.; Bakkers, E. P. A. M.; Kouwenhoven, L. P.; Zwiller, V. Single quantum dot nanowire photodetectors. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2010, 97, 113108.
Goto, H.; Nosaki, K.; Tomioka, K.; Hara, S.; Hiruma, K.; Motohisa, J.; Fukui, T. Growth of core–shell InP nanowires for photovoltaic application by selective-area metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. Appl. Phys. Express, 2009, 2, 035004.
Dong, Y.; Tian, B.; Kempa, T. J.; Lieber, C. M. Coaxial group Ⅲ–Nitride nanowire photovoltaics. Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 2183–2187.
Colombo, C.; Heiß, M.; Grätzel, M.; Fontcuberta i Morral, A. Gallium arsenide p-i-n radial structures for photovoltaic applications. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2009, 94, 173108.
Czaban, J. A.; Thompson, D. A.; LaPierre, R. R. GaAs core−shell nanowires for photovoltaic applications. Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 148–154.
Wanlass, M. W.; Ahrenkiel, S. P.; Ahrenkiel, R. K.; Albin, D. S.; Carapella, J. J.; Duda, A.; Geisz, J. F.; Kurtz, S.; Moriarty, T.; Wehrer, R. J.; Wernsman, B. Lattice-mismatched approaches for high-performance, Ⅲ–Ⅴ, photovoltaic energy converters. In Proc. 31st IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conf., Lake Buene Vista, Florida, 2005; pp. 530–535.
Gutsche, C.; Regolin, I.; Blekker, K.; Lysov, A.; Prost, W.; Tegude, F. -J. Controllable p-type doping of GaAs nanowires during vapor–liquid–solid growth. J. Appl. Phys. 2009, 105, 024305,
Gutsche, C.; Lysov, A.; Regolin, I.; Blekker, K.; Prost, W.; Tegude, F. -J. n-type doping of vapor-liquid-solid grown GaAs nanowires. Nanoscale Res. Lett. 2011, 6, 65–70.
Regolin, I.; Gutsche, C.; Lysov, A.; Blekker, K.; Li, Z. -A.; Spasova, M.; Prost, W.; Tegude, F. -J. Axial pn-junctions formed by MOVPE using DEZn and TESn in vapour-liquid-solid grown GaAs nanowires. J. Cryst. Growth 2011, 315, 143–147.
Lysov, A.; Offer, M.; Gutsche, C.; Regolin, I.; Topaloglu, S.; Geller, M.; Prost, W.; Tegude, F. -J. Optical properties of heavily doped GaAs nanowires and electroluminescent nanowire structures. Nanotechnology, 2011, 22, 085702.
Nonnenmacher, M.; O'Boyle, M. P.; Wickramasinghe, H. K. Kelvin probe force microscopy. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1991, 58, 2921–2923.
Katzer, Kl. -D.; Mertin, W.; Bacher, G.; Jaeger, A.; Streubel, K. Voltage drop in an (AlxGa1−x)0.5In0.5P light-emitting diode probed by Kelvin probe force microscopy. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2006, 89, 103522.
Lévêque, G.; Girard, P.; Skouri, E.; Yarekha, D. Measurements of electric potential in a laser diode by Kelvin probe force microscopy. Appl. Surf. Sci. 2000, 157, 251–255.
Minot, E. D.; Kelkensberg, F.; van Kouwen, M.; van Dam, J. A.; Kouwenhoven, L. P.; Zwiller, V.; Borgström, M.; Wunnicke, O.; Verheijen, M. A.; Bakkers, E. P. A. M. Single quantum dot nanowire LEDs. Nano Lett. 2007, 7, 367–371.
Vinaji, S.; Lochthofen, A.; Mertin, W.; Regolin, I.; Gutsche, C.; Prost, W.; Tegude, F. J.; Bacher, G. Material and doping transitions in single GaAs-based nanowires probed by Kelvin probe force microscopy. Nanotechnology 2009, 20, 385702.
Koren, E.; Rosenwaks, Y.; Allen, J. E.; Hemesath, E. R.; Lauhon, L. J. Nonuniform doping distribution along silicon nanowires measured by Kelvin probe force microscopy and scanning photocurrent microscopy. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2009, 95, 092105.
Koren, E.; Hyun, J. K.; Givan, U.; Hemesath, E. R.; Lauhon, L. J.; Rosenwaks, Y. Obtaining uniform dopant distributions in VLS-grown Si nanowires. Nano Lett. 2011, 11, 183–187.
Robin, F.; Jacobs, H.; Homan, O.; Stemmer, A.; Bächtold, W. Investigation of the cleaved surface of a p–i–n laser using Kelvin probe force microscopy and two-dimensional physical simulations. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2000, 76, 2907–2909.
Bürgi, L.; Sirringhaus, H.; Friend, R. H. Noncontact potentiometry of polymer field-effect transistors. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2002, 80, 2913–2915.
Tiwari, S.; Wright, S. L. Material properties of p-type GaAs at large dopings. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1990, 56, 563–565.
Liang, B. W.; Zou, Y. X.; Zhou, B. L.; Milnes, A. G. Minority carrier diffusion lengths in bulk n-type GaAs. J. Elect. Mater. 1987, 16, 177–180.
Graham, R.; Miller, C.; Oh, E.; Yu, D. Electric field dependent photocurrent decay length in single lead sulfide nanowire field effect transistors. Nano. Lett. 2011, 11, 717–722.
Luque, A.; Hegedus, S. Handbook of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering; John Wiley & Sons, 2003; p. 73.
Bohren, C.; Huffman, D. R. Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles; Wiley-VCH: New York, 1983; pp. 202–213.
Brönstrup, G.; Jahr, N.; Leiterer, C.; Csάki, A.; Fritzsche, W.; Christiansen, S. Optical properties of individual silicon nanowires for photonic devices. ACS Nano 2010, 4, 7113–7122.
Parkinson, P.; Joyce, H. J.; Gao, Q.; Tan, H. H.; Zhang, X.; Zou, J.; Jagadish, C.; Herz, L. M.; Johnston, M. B. Carrier lifetime and mobility enhancement in nearly defect-free core–shell nanowires measured using time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy. Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 3349–3353.
LaPierre, R. R. Numerical model of current-voltage characteristics and efficiency of GaAs nanowire solar cells. J. Appl. Phys. 2011, 109, 034311.
Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the European project NaSoL within the Ziel2.NRW program and the Sonder-forschungbereich SFB 445. We thank G. Brönstrup for assistance with theoretical calculations.
FEEDBACK 
TOP