Electrodeposition and detailed characterization of semiconductor nanowires

Abstract

In this paper, we will first compare different synthesis methods of semiconductor nanowires (PVD, CVD, VLS, lithography, electrodeposition, etc.) by analyzing their advantages and inconveniences, then present our own work on the electrodeposited CdSe luminescent nanowires. Using a low cost and low temperature approach by electrochemistry, CdSe nanowires were successfully grown using polycarbonate template. Depending on the host pore dimension of the substrate, wire diameter can be varied from 400 nm down to 30 nm and wire length from a few microns to tens microns. The as-deposited nanowires exhibit predominantly metastable zinc blende (ZB) structure but after the heat treatment they become wurtzite (W) structure. A combination of different characterization techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, SEM, TEM-HRTEM and EDXS, was used to investigate the growth morphology, crystalline structure and defects in the nanowires. The luminescent properties of CdSe nanowires have also been studied by means of photoluminescence.