Measurement and analysis of thermopower and electrical conductivity of an indium antimonide nanowire from a vapor-liquid-solid method

It has been suggested by theoretical calculation that indium antimonide (InSb) nanowires can possess improved thermoelectric properties compared to the corresponding bulk crystal. Here we fabricated a device using electron beam lithography to measure the thermopower and electrical conductivity of an individual InSb nanowire grown using a vapor-liquid-solid method. The comparison between the measurement results and transport simulations reveals that the nanowire was unintentionally degenerately doped with donors. Better control of the impurity doping concentration can improve the thermoelectric properties. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.