Fabrication and Characterization of Single-Crystalline AgSbTe Nanowire Arrays

Ternary semiconducting AgSbTe₂ nanowire arrays were synthesized for the first time by using the direct-current electrodeposition technique. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy analyses indicate that the nanowire arrays are high filling, ordered, single crystalline and the nanowires have a highly preferential orientation grown along the 100 direction. Annealing studies show that compared with other temperatures, annealing at 100°C can significantly increase the crystallinity of AgSbTe₂ nanowires. The optical absorbance spectra of the AgSbTe₂ nanowire arrays show that the optical band gap has a strong blue shift with decreasing the diameter of the nanowire.