Applications of electron microscopy to the characterization of semiconductor nanowires

We review our current progress on semiconductor nanowires of β-Ga2O3, Si and GaN. These nanowires were grown using both vapor–solid (VS) and vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanisms. Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) we studied their morphological, compositional and structural characteristics. Here we survey the general morphologies, growth directions and a variety of defect structures found in our samples. We also outline a method to determine the nanowire growth direction using TEM, and present an overview of device fabrication and assembly methods developed using these nanowires.