title: A top-down approach to fabrication of high quality vertical heterostructure nanowire arrays.
abstract: We demonstrate a novel top-down approach for fabricating nanowires with unprecedented complexity and optical quality by taking advantage of a nanoscale self-masking effect. We realized vertical arrays of nanowires of 20-40 nm in diameter with 16 segments of complex longitudinal InGaAsP/InP structures. The unprecedented high quality of etched wires is evidenced by the narrowest photoluminescence linewidth ever produced in similar wavelengths, indistinguishable from that of the corresponding wafer. This top-down, mask-free, large scale approach is compatible with the established device fabrication processes and could serve as an important alternative to the bottom-up approach, significantly expanding ranges and varieties of applications of nanowire technology.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Minghua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Martin T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Cun-Zheng
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: Ning
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances