On-chip optical communication between individual nano optoelectronic components is important to reduce the footprint and improve energy efficiency of photonic neuromorphic solutions. Although nanoscale photon emitters and receivers have been reported separately, communication between them remains largely unexplored. We demonstrate direct on-chip directional broadcasting of light between individual InP nanowire photodiodes on silicon. The performance of multiple wire-to-wire communication circuits is mapped, demonstrating robust performance with up to 5 bit resolution as needed in biological networks and a minimum component driving power for continuous operation of 0.5 μW which is below that of conventional hardware. The results agree well with theoretical modeling that allows us to understand network performance limits and identify where significant improvements could be achieved. We estimate that an energy per operation of ∼1 fJ and signal fan-out from one emitter to hundreds of other nodes is possible. We find that the nanowire circuit performance parameters can satisfy the quantitative requirements to run the tasks of neural nodes in a bioderived neural network for autonomous navigation. © 2025 The Authors.

Circuits of multiple deterministically positioned semiconductor nanowires (NWs) is the basis of many devices for photonic, quantum, or conventional transistor applications. To explore and iterate on the design of larger circuits, the means to quickly place and electrically evaluate NWs at target locations must be developed. We propose and demonstrate a multi-NW circuit building concept on SiO2/Si substrates, which enables us to quickly position and orient NW components into pre-designed configurations. Micro-manipulator probes are used to guide the NWs into reactive ion etched trenches, with desired designs, before contact metallization. The positioning works over a wide combination of trench widths and depths. Positioning accuracies are contingent on EBL patterning, precise up to ±10 nm. To demonstrate the concept, we create circuits of InP and InAs NWs with a wide variety of specific orientations. The concept was used to iterate a procedure for creating optimal contacts for InP NW photodiodes. Subsequently, we could fabricate and electrically probe 54 fully operational nano-photodiodes placed on three different samples, from which considerable statistics of diode performance could be obtained. Fabrication steps are directly compatible with conventional Si CMOS architecture and should function for a wide range of NW types. The accuracy and rate of placement combined with high fabrication yields enables proof-of-concept prototyping of complex circuits. © 2025 The Authors

Herein, a model is developed to study the polarization-selective light-coupling in quantum well infrared photodetector arrays with 15 and 30 μm pixel pitch. The polarization-selective light-coupling is achieved using 1D lamella gratings with varying grating orientation and studied through 2D and 3D finite-element method simulations. The extracted absorption quantum efficiency ηabs, derived from the field distribution, shows excellent agreement with experimental data in terms of absorption peak position for both pitch sizes. Several factors impacting the simulated absorptance level are discussed and a good agreement between the simulation and measured ηabs is achieved. Thanks to the developed 3D model, the polarization-selective light-coupling in pixels with 0° and 45° grating orientation is explored. The developed model paves the way for future studies on enhanced light-coupling in small pitch infrared detectors using resonance structures. © 2024 IRnova AB and The Author(s).

Here we report on an experimental and theoretical investigation of the long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) photoresponse of photodetectors based on arrays of three million InP nanowires with axially embedded InAsP quantum discs. An ultra-thin top indium tin oxide contact combined with a novel photogating mechanism facilitates an improved LWIR normal incidence sensitivity in contrast to traditional planar quantum well photodetectors. The electronic structure of the quantum discs, including strain and defect-induced photogating effects, and optical transition matrix elements were calculated by an 8-band k center dot p simulation along with solving drift-diffusion equations to unravel the physics behind the generation of narrow linewidth intersubband signals observed from the quantum discs © 2024 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.

On-chip light broadcasting can reduce spatial footprint and enhance energy efficiency in photonic neuromorphic systems. We demonstrate on-chip light transmission between InP nanowire photodiodes on silicon, addressing the gap towards complete nanoscale photonic integrated circuits. © 2025 The Author(s)

Computational efficiency is significantly enhanced using artificial neural network-based computing. A two-terminal memristive device is a powerful electronic device that can mimic the behavior of a biological synapse in addition to storing information and performing logic operations. This work focuses on the fabrication of a memristive device that utilizes a resistive switching layer composed of polyvinyl alcohol infused with ZnO nanoparticles. By incorporating ZnO nanoparticles into the polymer film, the fabricated memristive devices exhibit functionalities that closely resemble those of biological synapses, including short-term and long-term plasticity, paired-pulse facilitation, and spike time-dependent plasticity. These findings establish the ZnO nanoparticle-polymer nanocomposite as a highly promising material for future neuromorphic systems. © 2023 Author(s).

Monolithic integration of InSb on Si could be a key enabler for future electronic and optoelectronic applications. In this work, we report the fabrication of InSb metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors directly on Si using a CMOS-compatible process known as rapid melt growth. Fourier transform spectroscopy demonstrates a spectrally resolved photocurrent peak from a single crystalline InSb nanostructure with dimensions of 500 nm × 1.1 μm × 120 nm. Time-dependent optical characterization of a device under 1550 nm illumination indicated a stable photoresponse with responsivity of 0.50 A W⁻¹ at 16 nW illumination, with a time constant in the range of milliseconds. Electron backscatter diffraction spectroscopy revealed that the single crystalline InSb nanostructures contain occasional twin defects and crystal lattice twist around the growth axis, in addition to residual strain, possibly causing the observation of a low-energy tail in the detector response extending the photosensitivity out to 10 μm wavelengths (0.12 eV) at 77 K. © 2023 RSC.

In this work, we demonstrate a novel low-cost template-assisted route to synthesize vertical ZnO nanorod arrays on Si (100). The nanorods were grown on a patterned double seed layer comprised of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles. The seed layer was fabricated by spray-coating the substrate with graphene and then dip-coating it into a Al-doped ZnO sol-gel solution. The growth template was fabricated from a double-layer resist, spin-coated on top of the rGO/ZnO:Al seed layer, and patterned by colloidal lithography. The results show a successful chemical bath deposition of vertically aligned ZnO nanorods with controllable diameter and density in the nanoholes in the patterned resist mask. Our novel method can presumably be used to fabricate electronic devices on virtually any smooth substrate with a thermal budget of 1 min at 300 °C with the seed layer acting as a conductive strain-relieving back contact. The top contact can simply be made by depositing a suitable transparent conductive oxide or metal, depending on the specific application. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.

High-performance broadband photodetectors offering spectral tunability and a high gain-bandwidth product are crucial in many applications. Here, we report on a detailed experimental and theoretical study of three-terminal phototransistors comprised of three million InP nanowires with 20 embedded InAsP quantum discs in each nanowire. A global, transparent ITO gate all around the nanowires facilitates a radial control of the carrier concentration by more than two orders of magnitude. The transfer characteristics reveal two different transport regimes. In the subthreshold region, the photodetector operates in a diffusion mode with a distinct onset at the bandgap of InP. At larger gate biases, the phototransistor switches to a drift mode with a strong contribution from the InAsP quantum discs. Besides an unexpected spectral tunability, the detector exhibits a state-of-the-art responsivity, reaching around 100 A/W (638 nm/20 μW) @ V_GS = 1.0 V/V_DS = 0.5 V with a gain-bandwidth product of around 1 MHz, in excellent agreement with a comprehensive real-device model. © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

In this work, we demonstrate an effective anion capturing in an aqueous medium using a highly porous carbon paper decorated with ZnO nanorods. A sol–gel technique was first employed to form a thin and compact seed layer of ZnO nanoparticles on the dense network of carbon fibers in the carbon paper. Subsequently, ZnO nanorods were successfully grown on the pre-seeded carbon papers using inexpensive chemical bath deposition. The prepared porous electrodes were electrochemically investigated for improved charge storage and stability under long-term operational conditions. The results show effective capacitive deionization with a maximum areal capacitance of 2 mF/cm2, an energy consumption of 50 kJ per mole of chlorine ions, and an excellent long-term stability of the fabricated C-ZnO electrodes. The experimental results are supported by COMSOL simulations. Besides the demonstrated capacitive desalination application, our results can directly be used to realize suitable electrodes for energy storage in supercapacitors. © 2022, The Author(s).