Electronic transport studies of single-crystalline In2O3 nanowires

Abstract

Single-crystalline ${\mathrm{In}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3$ nanowires were synthesized and then utilized to construct field-effect transistors consisting of individual nanowires. These nanowire transistors exhibited nice $n$ -type semiconductor characteristics with well-defined linear and saturation regimes, and on/off ratios as high as ${10}^4$ were observed at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the conductance revealed thermal emission as the dominating transport mechanism. Oxygen molecules adsorbed on the nanowire surface were found to have profound effects, as manifested by a substantial improvement of the device performance in high vacuum. Our work paved the way for ${\mathrm{In}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3$ nanowires to be used as nanoelectronic building blocks and nanosensors.