Direct growth of nanowire logic gates and photovoltaic devices

Bottom-up nanowires are useful building blocks for functional devices because of their controllable physical and chemical properties. However, assembling nanowires into large-scale integrated systems remains a critical challenge that becomes even more daunting when different nanowires need to be simultaneously assembled in close proximity to one another. Herein, we report a new method to directly grow nanowire devices consisting of different nanowires. The method is based on the epitaxial growth of nanowires from the sidewalls of electrodes and on the matching of electrode design with synthesis conditions to electrically connect different nanowires during growth. Specifically, the method was used to grow silicon nanowire-based AND and OR diode logic gates with excellent rectifying behaviors, and photovoltaic elements in parallel and in series, with tunable power output.