A transmission line method for evaluation of vertical InAs nanowire contacts

In this paper, we present a method for metal contact characterization to vertical semiconductor nanowires using the transmission line method (TLM) on a cylindrical geometry. InAs nanowire resistors are fabricated on Si substrates using a hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) spacer between the bottom and top contact. The thickness of the HSQ is defined by the dose of an electron beam lithography step, and by varying the separation thickness for a group of resistors, a TLM series is fabricated. Using this method, the resistivity and specific contact resistance are determined for InAs nanowires with different doping and annealing conditions. The contacts are shown to improve with annealing at temperatures up to 300 degrees C for 1min, with specific contact resistance values reaching down to below 1 Omega mu m(2). (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.