Fabrication of InxGa1-xN Nanowires on Tantalum Substrates by Vapor-Liquid-Solid Chemical Vapor Deposition

Yan-Ling Hu; Yuqin Zhu; Huayu Ji; Qingyuan Luo; Ao Fu; Xin Wang; Guiyan Xu; Haobin Yang; Jiqiong Lian; Jingjing Sun; Dongya Sun; Defa Wang

doi:10.3390/nano8120990

Fabrication of In_xGa_1-xN Nanowires on Tantalum Substrates by Vapor-Liquid-Solid Chemical Vapor Deposition

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2018 Nov 29;8(12):990. doi: 10.3390/nano8120990.

Authors

Yan-Ling Hu¹, Yuqin Zhu², Huayu Ji³, Qingyuan Luo⁴, Ao Fu⁵, Xin Wang⁶, Guiyan Xu⁷, Haobin Yang⁸, Jiqiong Lian⁹, Jingjing Sun¹⁰, Dongya Sun¹¹, Defa Wang¹²

Affiliations

¹ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China. huyanling@xmut.edu.cn.
² Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China. zhuyuqin1998@hotmail.com.
³ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China. 13194071880@163.com.
⁴ TJU-NIMS International Collaboration Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China. qyluo@tju.edu.cn.
⁵ TJU-NIMS International Collaboration Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China. 15822231956@163.com.
⁶ TJU-NIMS International Collaboration Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China. xwangtnjrc@tju.edu.cn.
⁷ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China. 15160233004@163.com.
⁸ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China. yhb0309001@163.com.
⁹ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China. 2013123202@xmut.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China. 2015000093@xmut.edu.cn.
¹¹ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China. 2013123205@xmut.edu.cn.
¹² TJU-NIMS International Collaboration Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China. defawang@tju.edu.cn.

Abstract

In_xGa_1-xN nanowires (NWs) have drawn great attentions for their applications in optoelectronic and energy conversion devices. Compared to conventional substrates, metal substrates can offer In_xGa_1-xN NW devices with better thermal conductivity, electric conductivity, and mechanic flexibility. In this article, In_xGa_1-xN NWs were successfully grown on the surface of a tantalum (Ta) substrate via vapor-liquid-solid chemical vapor deposition (VLS-CVD), as characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), scanning and transmission electron microscope (STEM), and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). It was found that the surface pretreatment of Ta and the composition of metallic catalysts played important roles in the formation of NWs. A dimpled nitrided Ta surface combined with a catalyst of nickle is suitable for VLS-CVD growth of the NWs. The obtained In_xGa_1-xN NWs grew along the [1100] direction with the presence of basal stacking faults and an enriched indium composition of ~3 at.%. The successful VLS-CVD preparation of In_xGa_1-xN nanowires on Ta substrates could pave the way for the large-scale manufacture of optoelectronic devices in a more cost-effective way.

Keywords: chemical vapor deposition; gallium nitride; indium gallium nitride; nanowires; tantalum.

Abstract

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