Recent Advances in Group III-V Nanowire Infrared Detectors

1D III-V semiconductor nanowires (NWs) attract significant interests in fundamental physics and promising applications of high-performance room-temperature infrared (IR) detectors. Here, a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the study of III-V NW-based IR detectors is presented, starting from the rationale of III-V NWs for IR detectors, the controllable synthesis of III-V NWs to the precise manipulation of III-V NW-based IR detector performances. With a bandgap covering the whole IR wavelength range and a high carrier mobility, III-V NWs are considered as the most optimal channel materials for high-performance IR detectors. The synthesis methods and growth mechanisms of high quality III-V NWs are discussed, emphasizing the low-cost solid source chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique, which is developed as the two-step and surfactant-assisted CVD methods in the growth of various III-V NWs. Next, the representative types of III-V NW IR detectors are discussed and typical strategies to resolve main challenges limiting the performance of III-V NW-based IR detectors are reviewed, including high density of surface trap states, large dark current, etc. Finally, the possible challenges and opportunities in the future development of III-V NW-based IR detectors are discussed.