High Performance Single Nanowire Tunnel Diodes

Semiconductor nanowires (NWs) have emerged as a promising technology for future electronic and optoelectronic devices. Epitaxial growth of III-V materials on Si substrates have been demonstrated, allowing for low-cost production. As the lattice matching requirements are much less strict than for planar growth, many new materials combinations can be grown in a single NW. This opens up exciting opportunities for NW-based high-performance solar cells, where previously inaccessible materials combinations can now be chosen to match the solar spectrum. A key component of a multi-junction solar cell is the tunnel (Esaki) diode, which provides a low-resistance connection between junctions. We demonstrate an InP-GaAs NW axial heterostructure with tunnel diode behavior. InP and GaAs can be readily n- and p-doped, respectively, and the heterointerface is expected to have an advantageous type II band alignment. We intend to exploit this structure for the InAsP-GaAsP materials system, which is tunable in bandgaps from 0.4 eV to 1.9 eV. The NWs were grown using the Vapor-Liquid-Solid (VLS) technique in MOCVD, using H2S for n-doping of InP and DEZn for p-doping of GaAs. For electrical evaluation, individual NWs were contacted in a NW-FET setup. Electrical measurements at room temperature display typical tunnel diode behavior, with a Peak-to-Valley Current Ratio (PVCR) as high as 8.2 and a peak current density as high as 329 A/cm2. Low temperature measurements show improved PVCR of up to 27.6.