Electrical transport in ion beam created InAs nanospikes

Abstract

Ion beam irradiation has previously been demonstrated as a method for creating nanowire-like semiconductor nanostructures, but no previous studies have reported on the electrical properties of those structures. In this work we describe the creation and in situ transmission electron microscopy electrical characterization of nanoscale InAs spike structures on both InAs and InP substrates fabricated using a focused ion beam erosion method. Those InAs ‘nanospikes’ are found to possess internal structures with varying amounts of ion damaged and single crystalline material. Nanospike electrical behavior is analyzed with respect to model electronic structures and is similar to cases of barrier limited conduction in nanowires. The different electrical responses of each nanospike are found to be the result of variation in their structure, with the conductivity of InAs nanospikes formed on InAs substrates found to increase with the degree of nanospike core crystallinity. The conductivity of InAs nanospikes formed on InP substrates does not show a dependence on core crystallinity, and may be controlled by the other internal barriers to conduction inherent in that system.