Influence of Contacts and Applied Voltage on a Structure of a Single GaN Nanowire

TL;DR

This study investigates how metallic contacts and applied voltage influence the structural properties of GaN nanowires, revealing significant changes that impact their use in optoelectronic devices.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the structural effects of contact deposition and voltage bias on GaN nanowires of different diameters, informing future device design.

Findings

NWs with 200 nm diameter bend due to substrate interaction

Significant structural changes occur after contact deposition

Voltage bias influences nanowire deformation

Abstract

Semiconductor nanowires (NWs) have a broad range of applications for nano- and optoelectronics. The strain field of gallium nitride (GaN) NWs could be significantly changed when contacts are applied to them to form a final device, especially considering the piezoelectric properties of GaN. Investigation of influence of the metallic contacts on the structure of the NWs is of high importance for their applications in real devices. We have studied a series of different type of contacts and influence of the applied voltage bias on the contacted GaN NWs with the length of about 3 to 4 micrometers and with two different diameters of 200 nm and 350 nm. It was demonstrated that the NWs with the diameter of 200 nm are bend already by the interaction with the substrate. For all GaN NWs, significant structural changes were revealed after the contacts deposition. The results of our research may contribute to the future optoelectronic applications of the GaN nanowires.