Analytical Electron Microscopy of Semiconductor Nanowire Functional Materials and Devices for Energy Applications

Functionalized individual semiconductor nanowires (SNWs) and 3D SNW arrays attract a continuously growing interest for applications in optoelectronics, sensing, and energy storage. High-resolution field-emission analytical (scanning) transmission electron microscopy ((S)TEM) enables critical insights into the morphology, crystalline and electronic structures and chemical composition of single-crystalline high-aspect-ratio SNWs as prospective building blocks suitable for both a large scale-up synthesis and fabrication. Furthermore, SNW-based lab-on-a-chip devices may allow direct correlation between functional properties tailored for specific performance and the heterostructure morphology and atomic arrangement of the nanoscale structure being analyzed in various (S)TEM modes.