Demonstration of Defect-Free and Composition Tunable GaxIn1-xSb Nanowires

The GaxIn1-xSb ternary system has many interesting material properties, such as high carrier mobilities and a tunable range of bandgaps in the infrared. Here we present the first report on the growth and compositional control of GaxIn1-xSb material grown in the form of nanowires from Au seeded nanoparticles by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The composition of the grown GaxIn1-xSb nanowires is precisely controlled by tuning the growth parameters where x varies from 1 to similar to 0.3. Interestingly, the growth rate of the GaxIn1-xSb nanowires increases with diameter, which we model based on the Gibbs Thomson effect. Nanowire morphology can be tuned from high to very low aspect ratios, with perfect zinc blende crystal structure regardless of composition. Finally, electrical characterization on nanowire material with a composition of Ga0.6In0.4Sb showed clear p-type behavior.