Control and Assessment of Structure and Composition in Bismuth Telluride Nanowire Arrays

摘要

Due to effects of reduced dimensionality, Bi_2Te_3 nanowires are predicted to have increased thermoelectric efficiency relative to bulk Bi_2Te_3, one of the most efficient thermoelectric materials known. High-density arrays of nanowires have desirable characteristics for accessing nanowire properties in potential applications and also allow for facile nanowire property assessment. Here we describe a fabrication method to produce Bi_2Te_3 nanowire arrays by direct current electrochemical deposition into porous anodic alumina templates. The characteristics of the arrays have been assessed to determine the composition and structure in the arrays as well as in individual nanowires. The fabricated arrays have a high-density of uniform diameter (～40nm), high aspect ratio wires that are stoichiometric, polycrystalline Bi_2Te_3.