Electrical Characterization of Composition Modulated In_1−x Sb _x Nanowire Field Effect Transistors by Scanning Gate Microscopy

In this work high quality crystalline In_1−x Sb _x nanowires (NWs) are synthesized via a template-based electrochemistry method. Energy dispersive spectroscopy studies show that composition modulated In_1−x Sb _x (x∼0.5 or 0.7) nanowires can be attained by selectively controlling the deposition potential during growth. Single In_1−x Sb _x nanowire field effect transistors (NW-FETs) are fabricated to study the electrical properties of as-grown NWs. Using scanning gate microscopy (SGM) as a local gate the I _ds–V _ds characteristics of the fabricated devices are modulated as a function of the applied gate voltage. Electrical transport measurements show n-type semiconducting behavior for the In_0.5Sb_0.5 NW-FET, while a p-type behavior is observed for the In_0.3Sb_0.7 NW-FET device. The ability to grow composition modulated In_1−x Sb _x NWs can provide new opportunities for utilizing InSb NWs as building blocks for low-power and high speed nanoscale electronics.