Electroless Deposition of III-V Semiconductor Nanostructures from Ionic Liquids at Room Temperature

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie (International ed.) Vol. 54; no. 40; pp. 11870 - 11874
• Main Authors: Lahiri, Abhishek, Borisenko, Natalia, Olschewski, Mark, Gustus, René, Zahlbach, Janine, Endres, Frank
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 28.09.2015; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: AFM; Antimony; Cations; Deposition; Displacement; Electroless deposition; Electroless plating; Electronics industry; Energy gap; Gallium antimonides; GaSb; Group III-V semiconductors; Ionic liquids; Ions; Nanostructure; Nanotechnology; Nanowires; Optical properties; Optoelectronic devices; Room temperature; Semiconductors; AFM; GaSb; ionic liquids; electroless deposition; semiconductors
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201504764

Group III–V semiconductor nanostructures are important materials in optoelectronic devices and are being researched in energy‐related fields. A simple approach for the synthesis of these semiconductors with well‐defined nanostructures is desired. Electroless deposition (galvanic displacement) is a fast and versatile technique for deposition of one material on another and depends on the redox potentials of the two materials. Herein we show that GaSb can be directly synthesized at room temperature by galvanic displacement of SbCl3/ionic liquid on electrodeposited Ga, on Ga nanowires, and also on commercial Ga. In situ AFM revealed the galvanic displacement process of Sb on Ga and showed that the displacement process continues even after the formation of GaSb. The bandgap of the deposited GaSb was 0.9±0.1 eV compared to its usual bandgap of 0.7 eV. By changing the cation in the ionic liquid, the redox process could be varied leading to GaSb with different optical properties. Spontaneous formation of GaSb semiconductor nanostructures is possible using electroless deposition (galvanic displacement) at room temperature in ionic liquids. By changing the cation of the ionic liquid, the reduction rate could be varied leading to different optical properties of the semiconductor. (Picture: AFM images of the electroless displacement of Sb on Ga nanowires from an Sb‐containing ionic liquid.)