Investigation of strain effects of semiconductor nanowires by in situ microscopy transmission electron microscopy

Forskningsprojekt, 2017 – 2020

Energy-related applications of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) in photovoltaics, in low dissipation power electronics, and in future quantum devices require a fundamental understanding of the effects of strain on their physical properties since the nanowires are subject to thermal and mechanical influences. Such effects will occur, for instance, in energy harvesting of NW-based solar cells, in energy-efficient electronic nanoscale devices, or in future devices for quantum computing. In addition, the knowledge of the effect of strain on the electronic properties can be used to manipulate the electronic properties and further enhance the energy efficiency of devices. The proposed project suggests a detailed investigation of the effects of strain on the atomic and electronic microstructure of InAs-based nanowires by in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. In-situ TEM will be used to measure the effects of controlled elastic straining (both tensile and bending) of selected nanowires on the electrical transport properties. The influences of illumination of light will be addressed in a subunit of the selected NW systems.<br /> The nanowires will be grown by molecular beam epitaxy at Niels Bohr Institute . In-situ TEM at Chalmers will be used to measure the electrical transport properties under controlled elastic straining (for both tensile and bending) and under illumination of light.