Band alignment tuning in twin-plane superlattices of semiconductor nanowires

Nano Lett. 2010 Nov 10;10(11):4614-8. doi: 10.1021/nl1027099.

Abstract

The band alignments of twin-plane superlattices in semiconductor nanowires are systematically investigated on the basis of density functional calculations. Our calculations demonstrate that for nanowires with small diameters the quantum-confinement effect is prominent within wurtzite structure regions and the energy gap in wurtzite-structured nanowires is remarkably larger than that including zinc-blende structure. This results in the straddling band alignment, in which both electrons and holes are confined in zinc-blende structure region. The analysis using a simple tight-binding methods also clarifies that the straddling band alignments can be realized when the diameters of nanowires are less than 4-8 nm, leading to full control of band alignments by varying the nanowire diameter. Our results provide the ability of band-alignment tuning and open new possibilities for band engineering.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Electric Conductivity
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Nanostructures / ultrastructure*
  • Particle Size
  • Semiconductors*