Nanowires systems

Nanowire systems have attracted a great deal of attention recently due to their technological potential They are of fundamental interest because they exhibit unique quantum confinement effects. In this article, advances in the fabrication of nanowires via template-assisted and laser-assisted approaches are reviewed. The structure and characteristics of different nanowire systems are discussed. To understand and predict the unusual properties of nanowires, we have developed a generalized theoretical model for the band structure of these onedimensional systems. A unique semimetal-semiconductor transition that occurs in bismuth nanowires is described. Transport measurements on bismuth and antimony nanowires illustrate that these novel materials are very different from their bulk counterparts. A transport... 

The electronic states of nanowire systems exhibit a very different spectrum from that of bulk materials. In order to understand their unique electronic properties, we have modeled the band structure of these one-dimensional systems. 

In a nanowire system, the quantized subband energy enm and the transport effective mass mzz along the wire axis are the two most important parameters and determine almost all the electronic properties. Due to the anisotropic carriers and the special geometric configuration (circular wire cross section and high aspect ratio of length to diameter), several approximations were used in earlier calculations to derive e m and mzz in bismuth nanowires. In the... 

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