Applications of electron microscopy to the characterization of semiconductor nanowires

We review our current progress on semiconductor nanowires of β-Ga ₂O₃, 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.