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Toward a metrological calibration of the conversion efficiency in GaAs nanowire-based photodetectors

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Abstract

We describe the main experimental challenges toward the metrological calibration of photodetectors based on single semiconductor nanowires, and we propose a method for the quantification of their photoresponse, focusing in particular on GaAs nanowires. Spatially resolved measurements of the device’s photocurrent were performed with a far-field scanning optical setup and a laser excitation at λ = 656 nm. The photoresponse was quantitatively described by fitting the two-dimensional mapping of the photocurrent at different positions along the main nanowire axis. Our results indicate that the device’s photoresponse strongly depends on the position along the nanowire, which is attributed to the inhomogeneous properties of the device’s contacts. Furthermore, we show that its spatial profile across the nanowire can be directly compared with the profile of the laser beam by taking into account the angle between the scanning direction and the main nanowire axis as a geometrical factor. Finally, we discuss the impacts of laser-induced heating effects on the calibration of such nanoscale devices.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge Gözde Tütüncüoglu, Nicholas G. Morgan, Martin Friedl and Anna Fontcuberta i Morral (Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) for sample preparation and comments on the manuscript. Furthermore, we gratefully acknowledge support of the Braunschweig International Graduate School of Metrology B-IGSM and the DFG Research Training Group GrK1952/1 “Metrology for complex Nanosystems” as well as that of the DFG-funded research group FOR1616 (project Vo 1265/6-2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Semiconductor Technology (IHT) and Laboratory for Emerging Nanometrology (LENA), TU Braunschweig University of Technology, Braunschweig, D38106, Germany

    Davide Cammi, Kseniia Zimmermann & Tobias Voss

  2. Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, 38116, Germany

    Beatrice Rodiek & Stefan Kück

Authors
  1. Davide Cammi
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  2. Beatrice Rodiek
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  3. Kseniia Zimmermann
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  4. Stefan Kück
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  5. Tobias Voss
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Correspondence to Davide Cammi.

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Cammi, D., Rodiek, B., Zimmermann, K. et al. Toward a metrological calibration of the conversion efficiency in GaAs nanowire-based photodetectors. Journal of Materials Research 32, 2464–2470 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2017.225

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2017.225

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