Semiconductor Nanowires: Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications

Semiconductor nanowires are quasi‐one‐dimensional crystals whose diameters typically lie in the range of a few to a few hundred nanometres and whose lengths extend to several micrometres. These structures can be synthesised by bottom‐up techniques such as vapour–liquid–solid growth, chemical vapour deposition and selective area epitaxy, or patterned by top‐down lithographic methods combined with etching. Control over composition, doping and morphology enables the fabrication of axial and radial heterostructures with abrupt or graded interfaces. Characterization by electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence reveals crystallinity, strain, phase purity and optical quality, while electrical transport measurements probe carrier mobility, threshold voltages and noise characteristics. The unique geometry of nanowires imparts enhanced surface‐to‐volume ratios and quantum confinement effects that can be harnessed in field‐effect transistors, photodetectors, light‐emitting diodes, lasers and photovoltaic devices. Advances in integrating high‐mobility III–V nanowires on silicon and in constructing lattice‐mismatch‐free core–shell coaxial structures have driven progress towards monolithic optoelectronic platforms. Beyond classical electronics and photonics, nanowire circuits demonstrate potential for neuromorphic computing, quantum information and advanced sensing, underlining their global significance for next‐generation technology.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent efforts have established a generalisable route to core–shell heterostructure nanowires free of lattice mismatch by exploiting the surfactant properties of chalcogenide shells grown conformally on III–V cores. This method yields smooth interfaces, tunable shell thicknesses and compositions, and enhanced photodetection performance in the infrared, with responsivities and detectivities improved by more than two orders of magnitude compared with bare nanowires. In parallel, monolithic in‐plane integration of III–V nanowire photodetectors on silicon substrates has been demonstrated, producing devices with footprint areas below 0.1 µm2, ultra‐low capacitance and high‐speed optical data reception at tens of gigabits per second. These studies illustrate pathways to seamlessly integrate high‐quality III–V materials with mature silicon platforms and to exploit one‐dimensional architectures for ultrafast optoelectronic components.

Semiconductor Nanowires: Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in semiconductor nanowires: synthesis, characterization, and applications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Nanowire: A slender crystal with diameter in the nanometre range and high aspect ratio.

Vapour–liquid–solid (VLS): A growth mechanism in which a liquid catalyst droplet mediates absorption and deposition of precursor vapours to form a solid nanowire.

Selective area epitaxy: A bottom‐up technique that confines growth to predefined regions on a substrate using patterned masks.

Core–shell heterostructure: A coaxial architecture comprising an inner ‘core’ semiconductor material and an outer ‘shell’ layer of differing composition.

Quantum confinement: The modification of electronic and optical properties when one or more dimensions of a material approach the de Broglie wavelength of carriers.

Photoluminescence: Light emission from a material following photoexcitation, used to probe band structure and defect states.

Field‐effect transistor (FET): A three‐terminal device in which an electric field modulates the conductivity of a semiconducting channel.

References

1. Lattice-mismatch-free construction of III-V/chalcogenide core-shell heterostructure nanowires. Nature Communications (2023).
2. High-speed III-V nanowire photodetector monolithically integrated on Si. Nature Communications (2020).
3. Electronic Transport and Quantum Phenomena in Nanowires. Chemical Reviews (2024).
4. Telecom-band multiwavelength vertical emitting quantum well nanowire laser arrays. Light: Science & Applications (2024).
5. An Amorphous Native Oxide Shell for High Bias‐Stress Stability Nanowire Synaptic Transistor. Advanced Science (2023).