Novel fabrication and optoelectronic property of semiconductor filaments by optical-fiber thermal drawing

Abstract

One dimensional nanostructure such as nanowires is typically fabricated by the wafer-based approach. Here we report nanowires are fabricated by thermal drawing of fiber. A thin viscous semiconductor film internal to the fiber undergoes filamentation driven by a fluid instability while retaining longitudinal structural integrity. Arrays of centimeter-long crystalline nanowires by post-drawing crystallization process are electrically contacted and yield a two-order-of-magnitude change in conductivity between dark and illuminated states. These results hold promise for the nanowire-detector arrays that may be integrated with large-area electronics.