III-VI compound semiconductor indium selenide (In2Se3) nanowires:: Synthesis and characterization

The authors report the synthesis of one-dimensional indium selenide nanowire, a III-VI group compound semiconductor nanostructure with potential applications in data storage, solar cells, and optoelectronics. Nanoscale gold particles were used as catalysts and growth was also demonstrated using indium as self-catalyst. The growth mechanism is confirmed to be vapor-liquid-solid process by in situ heating experiments in which In and Se were found to diffuse back into the gold catalyst bead forming a Au-In-Se alloy that was molten at elevated temperatures. The morphology, composition, and crystal structure of the In2Se3 nanowires (NWs) were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.