Semiconductor nanowire heterostructures: Controlled growth and optoelectronic applications

Nanowire heterostructures with a modulated composition, structure, and interface represent an ideal system for the investigation of their synergetic physical properties arising from dissimilar material combination and for the construction of a wide range of novel nanoscale optoelectronic and photonics devices. In this chapter, the research progress on the controlled synthesis of a wide variety of nanowire heterostructures including segmented and superlattices, core/shell and core/multishell radial heterostructures, as well as branched heterostructures are reviewed. The fabricationmethods cover vapor-phase, solution-phase, and templatebased methods. The optoelectronic applications of semiconductor nanowire heterostructures in photoluminescence, photovoltaics, and photoelectrochemical water splitting as well as in photodetectors are also discussed.