Issue 36, 2016, Issue in Progress

Fabrication and characterisation of GaAs nanopillars using nanosphere lithography and metal assisted chemical etching

Abstract

We present a low-cost fabrication procedure for the production of nanoscale periodic GaAs nanopillar arrays, using the nanosphere lithography technique as a templating mechanism and the electrochemical metal assisted etch process (MacEtch). The room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopic properties of the fabricated pillars are detailed, as are the structural properties (scanning electron microscopy) and fabrication process. From our PL measurements, we observe a singular GaAs emission at 1.43 eV with no indications of any blue or green emissions, but with a slight redshift due to porosity induced by the MacEtch process and characteristic of porous GaAs (π-GaAs). This is further confirmed via Raman spectroscopy, where additionally we observe the formation of an external cladding of elemental As around our nanopillar features. The optical emission is enhanced by an order magnitude (∼300%) for our nanopillar sample relative to the planar unprocessed GaAs reference.

Graphical abstract: Fabrication and characterisation of GaAs nanopillars using nanosphere lithography and metal assisted chemical etching

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Nov 2015
Accepted
14 Mar 2016
First published
16 Mar 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 30468-30473

Author version available

Fabrication and characterisation of GaAs nanopillars using nanosphere lithography and metal assisted chemical etching

A. Cowley, J. A. Steele, D. Byrne, R. K. Vijayaraghavan and P. J. McNally, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 30468 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA23621E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements