Invited Paper NM+MS+NS+NC-ThA7
Semiconductor Nanowires: From Materials Science to Device Physics

Thursday, October 23, 2008, 4:00 pm, Room 309

In the general trend towards the use of self-assembly for realization of ultra-small devices on the 10nm-scale, semiconductor nanowires (NWs) have emerged as one of the most interesting candidates. In this talk I will describe different materials science aspects of NW growth, with a focus on III-V NWs grown epitaxially on a single-crystalline substrate as a top-down guided bottom-up growth of NWs . I will present recent progress in studies of structural properties of such NWs, including the importance and control of the stacking sequence of subsequent layers in NWs. I will then describe the controlled formation of axial and radial heterostructures, which is of great importance for the use of NWs for basic physics studies as well as for applications in electronics and photonics. As examples of recent physics studies of NWs I will describe transport via single and multiple quantum dots and optical studies of excitonic recombination in single quantum dots in NWs. Finally, I will give an update on the progress in realizing electronic as well as photonic devices using NWs, and will here primarily present progress in technology and performance of wrap-gate field-effect transistors. I time allows I will conclude with some visions for where I think NW-based science and technology may be heading in the future.