Template-assisted electrodeposition of indium–antimony nanowires – Comparison of electrochemical methods

Indium antimonide (InSb) is a III–V compound semiconductor that in a form of nanowires can possess improved thermoelectrical and optical properties compared to the corresponding bulk crystal. Here, we applied three electrodeposition techniques for a fast and inexpensive template-assisted fabrication of InSb nanowires from a sodium citrate-citric acid solution at room temperature. The home-made anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates with the pore diameter of 100 nm were used. InSb nanowires were synthesized by potentiostatic, galvanostatic and periodic pulse reverse techniques. The morphology, composition and crystallinity of as-obtained and annealed nanowires were investigated and compared with the literature data. It was found that the potentiostatic and pulse reverse methods gave crystalline nanowires. On the other hand, the constant current density deposition results in a partially amorphous nanowire material.