Cross-Sectional Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy of Semimetallic ErAs Nanostructures Embedded in GaAs

TL;DR

This study uses cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to analyze the atomic and electronic structures of ErAs nanostructures embedded in GaAs, revealing their semimetallic nature.

Contribution

First application of XSTM and XSTS to study embedded ErAs nanostructures, providing new insights into their growth and electronic properties.

Findings

ErAs nanostructures are semimetallic

Growth stages of embedded nanostructures characterized

Comparison with TEM confirms structural insights

Abstract

The growth and atomic/electronic structure of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown ErAs nanoparticles and nanorods embedded within a GaAs matrix are examined for the first time via cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (XSTM) and spectroscopy (XSTS). Cross sections enable the interrogation of the internal structure and are well suited for studying embedded nanostructures. The early stages of embedded ErAs nanostructure growth are examined via these techniques and compared with previous cross sectional TEM work. Tunneling spectroscopy I(V) for both ErAs nanoparticles and nanorods was also performed, demonstrating that both nanostructures are semimetallic.