Ultra-fast photodetectors based on high-mobility indium gallium antimonide nanowires

Because of tunable bandgap and high carrier mobility, ternary III-V nanowires (NWs) have demonstrated enormous potential for advanced applications. However, the synthesis of large-scale and highly-crystalline In(x)Ga(1−x)Sb NWs is still a challenge. Here, we achieve high-density and crystalline stoichiometric In(x)Ga(1−x)Sb (0.09 < x < 0.28) NWs on amorphous substrates with the uniform phase-purity and <110 >-orientation via chemical vapor deposition. The as-prepared NWs show excellent electrical and optoelectronic characteristics, including the high hole mobility (i.e. 463 cm(2) V(−1) s(−1) for In(0.09)Ga(0.91)Sb NWs) as well as broadband and ultrafast photoresponse over the visible and infrared optical communication region (1550 nm). Specifically, the In(0.28)Ga(0.72)Sb NW device yields efficient rise and decay times down to 38 and 53 μs, respectively, along with the responsivity of 6000 A W(−1) and external quantum efficiency of 4.8 × 10(6) % towards 1550 nm regime. High-performance NW parallel-arrayed devices can also be fabricated to illustrate their large-scale device integrability for next-generation, ultrafast, high-responsivity and broadband photodetectors.