Synthesis and thermoluminescence of boron-doped germanium nanowires

Boron doped germanium nanowires were synthesized using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with Au nanoparticles as nucleating centers, germanium tetrachloride as the source of germanium and B2H6 gas as source of boron impurity. Au nanoparticles were deposited on Si using 3-aminopropyltriethylsilane (APTES). The single crystal Ge nanowires with diameters ranging from 19 to 200 nm were grown in a controllable manner. Effects of Au nanoparticle size, argon gas flow, temperature and duration of growth on diameter and length of nanowires were investigated. This is the first report on thermoluminescence (TL) properties of boron doped germanium nanowires. Glow curves were fitted using computerized glow curve deconvolution program and seven overlapped peaks were obtained. Further the response of synthesized nanowires to different dose levels of UV was studied and linear response regime was determined. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.