Crystalline indium sesquitelluride nanostructures: synthesis, growth mechanism and properties

Abstract

In the present work, we report for the first time the growth of uniform single crystalline In 2 Te 3 nanowires via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The CVD grown In 2 Te 3 nanowires are single crystals along [132] growth direction with a uniform diameter of around 150 nm and an average length of tens of microns. In addition, polycrystalline hierarchical nanostructures of In 2 Te 3 are also fabricated via a solvothermal method under low temperature conditions. The morphology and crystal structures are systematically studied using SEM and TEM. Optical characterization by Raman spectroscopy provides further information of the achieved products, and UV-vis spectroscopy helped to investigate the bandgap of these nanostructures. By surfactant and solvent effects, the morphologies of the nanostructure are controllable. The electrical properties of the two kinds of nanowire are compared. The morphology controllable nanostructure offers the possibility of controlling the properties of In 2 Te 3 and this opens up new means for achieving high performance nanodevices based on these nanostructures.

Telluride-based nanorods and nanosheets: synthesis, evolution and properties

“…If large variations happen to the solution dielectric constant by alteration, or direct addition of high dielectric solvent, then dipolar, van der Waals and other attractions will be no more favorable for In 2 Te 3 crystal growth. 9 Low temperature and short duration of reaction time are also not favorable for completion of nanostructure growth. The When the reaction conditions provided enough activation energy for the growth of In 2 Te 3 nanostructures, then the most parts of Te nanorods were covered with scales, as shown in Fig.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] As one kind of telluride material, In 2 Te 3 is an important III-VI compound semiconductor with a narrow direct bandgap of 1.19 eV at room temperature and anti-uorite structure a-phase and zinc blend structure b-phase at low and high temperatures respectively. 9 Recently, we successfully synthesized crystalline In 2 Te 3 nanowires via a CVD method for the rst time and demonstrated crystalline In 2 Te 3 nanowires are promising candidates for application in high sensitivity and high-speed nanoscale photodetectors with broad band photoresponse. 10 However, no previous research has been reported on the synthesis and device application of In 2 Te 3 nanosheets.…”

Site-specific nucleation and controlled growth of a vertical tellurium nanowire array for high performance field emitters

“…Tellurium is a narrow band gap (E g = 0.34 eV), p-type elemental semiconductor with excellent potential applications such as in photoconductive, thermoelectric, catalytic, piezoelectric, chemical sensing and field emission devices [15][16][17]. Te nanostructures are also used as a template to synthesize different telluride based semiconductors [18][19][20]. Although there have been some reports on the growth mechanism of Te nanostructures [21][22][23][24], vertical, catalyst-free and epitaxial growth and re-growth mechanism of nanowires have not been reported due to the difficulties in controlling the synthesis.…”

Low‐Dimensional Te‐Based Nanostructures

“…Gold (Au) nanoparticles are often used as universal catalysts to define the growth of a 1D nanostructure, for example, high‐quality single‐crystalline GeTe nanowires12 and Sb 2 Te 3 13 nanobelts and nanotubes have been successfully synthesized by the Au‐catalyzed VLS growth mode. Recently, our group successfully synthesized In 2 Te 3 nanowires by an Au‐catalyst‐assisted growth process 22. The growth processes of In 2 Te 3 nanowire involve, first, the dissolution of gaseous In 2 Te 3 into the Au nanoparticles, followed by the nucleation of the wire and lateral growth.…”