Abstract
A high-precision technique was utilized to construct and characterize axial nanowire heterojunctions inside a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). By an in-tandem technique using an ultra-sharp tungsten probe as the nanomanipulator and an optical fiber as the optical waveguide the nanoscale CdS p-Si axial nanowire junctions were fabricated, and in situ photocurrents from them were successfully measured. Compared to a single constituting nanowire, the CdS p-Si axial nanowire junctions possess a photocurrent saturation effect, which protects them from damage under high voltages. Furthermore, a set of experiments reveals the clear relationship between the saturation photocurrent values and the incident light intensities. The applied technique is expected to be valuable for bottom-up nanodevice fabrications, and the regarded photocurrent saturation feature may solve the Joule heating-induced failure problem in nanowire optoelectronic devices caused by a fluctuating bias.