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S. Karl, C. Zeiner, M. Stöger-Pollach, E. Bertagnolli, M.I. den Hertog, M. Lopez-Haro, E. Robin, K. El Hajraoui, A. Lugstein:
"Abrupt Schottky Junctions in Al/Ge Nanowire Heterostructures";
Nano Letters, 15 (2015), 7; 4783 - 4787.

In this Letter we report on the exploration of axial metal/
semiconductor (Al/Ge) nanowire heterostructures with abrupt interfaces. The formation process is enabled by a thermal induced exchange reaction between the vapor − liquid − solid grown Ge nanowire and Al contact pads due to the substantially different diff
usion behavior of Ge in Al and vice versa. Temperature-dependent I
V measurements revealed the metallic properties of the crystalline Al
nanowire segments with a maximum current carrying capacity of about 0.8 MA/cm2. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization has confirmed both the composition and crystalline nature of the pure Al nanowire segments. A very sharp interface between the 111 ⟩ oriented Ge nanowire and the reacted Al part was observed with a Schottky barrier height of 361 meV. To demonstrate the potential of this approach, a monolithic Al/Ge/Al heterostructure was used to
fabricate a novel impact ionization device.

Nanowire; heterostructure; Schottky contact; germanium; aluminum; impact ionization

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01748

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01748