Investigation of p-type InAs nanowires grown via Au-assisted and self-assembled methods

We have investigated the p-type doping profiling of InAs nanowries (NWs) grown via the Au-assisted vapor-liquid-sold (VLS) and the self-assembled growth methods. The VLS is the most commonly used mechanism for the growth of semiconductor NWs. The VLS-grown InAs NWs, however, show a large degree of variation in their electrical resistance along their growth direction. In addition, attempts to form heavily p-type doped InAs NWs lead to a strong kinking in the shapes of the NWs, disturbing their one-dimensional growth. In contrast, the p-type doped InAs NWs grown via the self-assembled method exhibit very low and uniform electrical resistance along the growth direction of the NWs. The doping mechanisms of the InAs NWs and their growth methods are further discussed.