Substrate‐Free Chemical Vapor Deposition of Large‐Scale III–V Nanowires for High‐Performance Transistors and Broad‐Spectrum Photodetectors

Abstract

Large‐scale growth of high‐quality III–V nanowires (NWs) on an expected substrate is challenging the next‐generation optoelectronic devices. In this work, high‐quality III–V NWs of binary GaSb, GaAs and ternary GaAs _x Sb _{1− x} , In _x Ga _{1− x} As are successfully prepared on the hard substrates of SiO ₂/Si, amorphous glass and flexible substrates of mica, glass fiber, and carbon cloth by adopting the simple and low‐cost metal‐catalyzed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The homogeneity of morphology, crystallinity, and stoichiometry is checked by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, implying the high‐quality phase purity of III–V NWs on various substrates. When configured into NW field‐effect‐transistors, the electrical properties, such as field‐effect mobilities of GaSb NWs grown on various substrates show relatively similar satisfactory values. Meanwhile, the as‐fabricated GaSb NWs photodetector exhibits excellent broad‐spectrum photodetection ability from visible to near‐infrared bands. Furthermore, by adopting a home‐made stepper CVD method, large‐scale GaSb NWs with uniform morphology, crystallinity, stoichiometry, and electrical properties are prepared on glass. All results guide the easy growth of high‐quality functional NWs on any expected substrates for further photoelectronic applications.