InAs Nanowire Devices with Strong Gate Tunability: Fundamental Electron Transport Properties and Application Prospects: A Review

The high electron mobility has granted indium arsenide (InAs) nanowires (NWs) as an important class of nanomaterials for high performance electronics such as field-effect transistors (FETs). We reviewed recent progresses on the studies of quantum coherence, gate tunable one-dimensional (1D) confinement and spin orbit interaction (SOI) in InAs NW based electronic and thermoelectric transport devices. We also demonstrated gas sensing response of InAs NW FETs and elucidated the mechanism via a gating experiment. By using InAs NWs as an example, these fundamental transport studies have shed important lights on the potential thermoelectric, spintronic and gas sensing applications of semiconductor NWs where the 1D confinement, SOI or surface states effects are exploited.