Electronic Transport with Dielectric Confinement in Degenerate InN Nanowires

• Published in: Nano letters 2012-06, Vol.12 (6), p.2768-2772
• Main Authors: Blömers, Ch, Lu, J. G, Huang, L, Witte, C, Grützmacher, D, Lüth, H, Schäpers, Th
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Computer Simulation; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Confinement; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Dielectrics; Electric Conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Electron Transport; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronic transport in multilayers, nanoscale materials and structures; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Indium - chemistry; Ionization; Materials science; Models, Chemical; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nanostructures - ultrastructure; Nanowires; Physics; Quantum wires; Semiconductors; Temperature dependence; Transport
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl204500r

In this Letter, we present the size effects on charge conduction in InN nanowires by comprehensive transport studies supported by theoretical analysis. A consistent model for highly degenerate narrow gap semiconductor nanowires is developed. In contrast to common knowledge of InN, there is no evidence of an enhanced surface conduction, however, high intrinsic doping exists. Furthermore, the room-temperature resistivity exhibits a strong increase when the lateral size becomes smaller than 80 nm and the temperature dependence changes from metallic to semiconductor-like. This effect is modeled by donor deactivation due to dielectric confinement, yielding a shift of the donor band to higher ionization energies as the size shrinks.