Charge transport in InN nanowires investigated by scanning probe microscopy

Over the past decade there has been an increasing interest in developing nanoscale nitride devices with enhanced functionalities and much improved performance compared to traditional devices [1]. In the past few years, InN materials have drawn high research interest following discovery of their surprisingly low bandgap (0.7–0.9 eV), high carrier mobility, and surface electron accumulation. Considerable recent research interest has also been focused toward synthesizing InN NWs and exploiting their unique material properties to develop novel multifunctional devices. In spite of their promise, there are only a few reports on the synthesis and characterization of InN NWs, partly due to the difficulty in achieving good material quality. Recently, Cai et al. reported on the synthesis of high quality InN nanowires (NWs) with uniform diameter and good crystalline properties [2]. However, unique surface electronic properties of these NWs are not yet fully understood, since direct experimental evidences are lacking so far.