Electrodeposition of compound semiconductors in polymer channels of 100 nm diameter

We report the growth of a transparent, p-type semiconductor, CuSCN, in nanometer sized channels of a thin polyester foil. High energy heavy ion irradiation and subsequent etching is used to prepare vertical cylindrical channels in polymers with diameters in the range 30-3000 nm. Electrodeposition is then used to fill these channels with polycrystalline CuSCN. The embedding is robust against mechanical stress on the foil. Since the bulk modulus of the inorganic CuSCN is larger than that of the polymeric matrix, only small forces act on the embedded semiconductor, resulting in low electrical changes upon bending or flexing of the foil. Dissolving the polyester matrix results in free-standing semiconductor columns with height-to-diameter ratios in excess of 100. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.