Conductance Enhancement of InAs/InP Heterostructure Nanowires by Surface Functionalization with Oligo(phenylene vinylene)s

We have investigated the electronic transport through 3 μm long, 45 nm diameter InAs nanowires comprising a 5 nm long InP segment as electronic barrier. After assembly of 12 nm long oligo(phenylene vinylene) derivative molecules onto these InAs/InP nanowires, we observed a pronounced, nonlinear I–V characteristic with significantly increased currents of up to 1 μA at 1 V bias, for a back-gate voltage of 3 V.

As supported by our model calculations based on a nonequilibrium Green Function approach, we attribute this effect to charge transport through those surface-bound molecules, which electrically bridge both InAs regions across the embedded InP barrier.