Abrupt Schottky Junctions in Al/Ge Nanowire Heterostructures.

Kral, S; Zeiner, C; Stöger-Pollach, M; Bertagnolli, E; den Hertog, M I; Lopez-Haro, M; Robin, E; El Hajraoui, K et al. · Nano Lett · 2015

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

In this Letter we report on the exploration of axial metal/semiconductor (Al/Ge) nanowire heterostructures with abrupt interfaces. The formation process is enabled by a thermal induced exchange reaction between the vapor-liquid-solid grown Ge nanowire and Al contact pads due to the substantially different diffusion behavior of Ge in Al and vice versa. Temperature-dependent I-V measurements revealed the metallic properties of the crystalline Al nanowire segments with a maximum current carrying capacity of about 0.8 MA/cm(2). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization has confirmed both the composition and crystalline nature of the pure Al nanowire segments. A very sharp interface between the ⟨111⟩ oriented Ge nanowire and the reacted Al part was observed with a Schottky barrier height of 361 meV. To demonstrate the potential of this approach, a monolithic Al/Ge/Al heterostructure was used to fabricate a novel impact ionization device.