The quality of lattice-mismatched semiconductor heterojunctions is often limited by the presence of misfit dislocations. Nanowire geometries offer the promise of creating highly mismatched, yet dislocation free heterojunctions. A simple model, based upon the critical thickness model of Matthews and Blakeslee for misfit dislocation formation in planar heterostructures, illustrates that there exi...

We show that a nanoparticle can serve as an efficient antenna for coupling of visible light into propagating plasmons of an Ag nanowire. For long wires, the coupling is maximal for incident light polarized perpendicular to the nanowire. For sub-10-mum nanowires, the polarization corresponding to maximum emission from the ends of the nanowire was found to be strongly dependent on the nanowire ge...

We report a systematic study about the anisotropic third-order optical nonlinearity of a single ZnO micro/nanowire by using the Z-scan method with a femtosecond laser. The two-photon absorption coefficient and nonlinear refraction index, which are measured as a function of polarization angle and sample orientation angle, exhibit oscillation curves with a period of π/2, indicating a highly polar...

We report on the biofunctionalization of zinc oxide nanowires for the attachment of DNA target molecules on the nanowire surface. With the organosilane glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane acting as a bifunctional linker, amino-modified capture molecule oligonucleotides have been immobilized on the nanowire surface. The dye-marked DNA molecules were detected via fluorescence microscopy, and our re...

Bimetallic core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) are the subject of intense research due to their unique electronic, optical and catalytic properties. Accurate and independent control over the dimensions of both core and shell would allow for unprecedented catalytic performance. Here, we demonstrate that both core and shell dimensions of Pd/Pt core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) supported on Al2O3 substrat...

In the past decades, many methods have been developed to synthesize zero- dimensional  nanoparticles, quasi–one–dimensional (1D) CuO nanostructures, such as metal organic deposition technique,  microwave irradiation, sol-gel-like dip  technique, reverse micelle-assisted route, chemical method, and simple template free solution route. Among those synthesis methods, hydrothermal and chemical reac...

We report the syntheses of vertically aligned, beaded zinc germinate (Zn2GeO4)/zinc oxide (ZnO) hybrid nanowire arrays via a catalyst-free approach. Vertically aligned ZnO nanowire is used as a lattice matching reactive template for the growth of Zn2GeO4/ZnO nanowire. The morphology and structure of the as-prepared samples were characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron (...

A spatial potential trap is formed in a 6.0-μm Al(Ga)N nanowire by varying the Al composition along its length during epitaxial growth. The polariton emission characteristics of a dielectric microcavity with the single nanowire embedded in-plane have been studied at room temperature. Excitation is provided at the Al(Ga)N end of the nanowire, and polariton emission is observed from the lowest ba...

The efficacy of laser annealing for the thermal annealing of nanocrystalline gold nanowires is evaluated. Continuous laser illumination at 532 nm, focused to a 0.5 μm diameter spot, was rastered perpendicular to the axis of nanocrystalline gold nanowire at ∼2 kHz. This rastered beam was then scanned down the nanowire at velocities from 7 to 112 nm/s. The influence on the electrical resistance o...

Accurately measuring and controlling the electrical properties of semiconductor nanowires is of paramount importance in the development of novel nanowire-based devices. In light of this, terahertz(THz) conductivity spectroscopy has emerged as an ideal non-contact technique for probing nanowire electrical conductivity and is showing tremendous value in the targeted development of nanowire devic...