Carrier control and transport modulation in GaSb/InAsSb core/shell nanowires

We report transport studies of GaSb/InAs core/shell nanowires. It is shown that with increasing InAs shell thickness, it is possible to tune the carrier concentrations and transport in the structures from p-type (core-dominated) to n-type (shell dominated). For nanowires with an intermediate shell thickness (5–7 nm), we show that the transport is ambipolar, such that an applied top-gate potential can provide further control of carrier type and transport path. In this range, the nature of the GaSb-InAs junction also changes from broken gap (semimetal) to staggered (narrow bandgap) with a small decrease in shell thickness. From a device point of view, we demonstrate that the presence of a thin (<3 nm) InAs shell improves p-type GaSb nanowire transistor characteristics.