Fabrication of High-Quality InSb Nanowire Arrays by Chemical Beam Epitaxy

We present investigations on InSb nanowires grown directly on InSb substrates. A chemical beam epitaxy system was used to synthesize InSb nanowires. Growth at low temperatures (300―400 °C) resulted in extensive parasitic InSb thin film deposition and stacking faults within these nanowires. To circumvent both problems, InSb nanowires were synthesized at temperatures above 410 °C. By further optimizing the growth parameters completely stacking fault-free, free-standing InSb nanowires were obtained. By combining chemical beam epitaxy and laser interference lithography, large areas of ordered InSb nanowires were fabricated. Temperature-dependent electrical measurements on these InSb nanowire arrays showed intrinsic bulklike behavior.