Crystalline indium sesquitelluride nanostructures: synthesis, growth mechanism and properties

Abstract

In the present work, we report for the first time the growth of uniform single crystalline In₂Te₃ nanowires via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The CVD grown In₂Te₃ nanowires are single crystals along [132] growth direction with a uniform diameter of around 150 nm and an average length of tens of microns. In addition, polycrystalline hierarchical nanostructures of In₂Te₃ are also fabricated via a solvothermal method under low temperature conditions. The morphology and crystal structures are systematically studied using SEM and TEM. Optical characterization by Raman spectroscopy provides further information of the achieved products, and UV-vis spectroscopy helped to investigate the bandgap of these nanostructures. By surfactant and solvent effects, the morphologies of the nanostructure are controllable. The electrical properties of the two kinds of nanowire are compared. The morphology controllable nanostructure offers the possibility of controlling the properties of In₂Te₃ and this opens up new means for achieving high performance nanodevices based on these nanostructures.