P- and N-type InAs nanocrystals with innately controlled semiconductor polarity | Science Advances

InAs semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) exhibit intriguing electrical/optoelectronic properties suitable for next-generation electronic devices. Although there is a need for both n - and p -type semiconductors in such devices, InAs NCs typically exhibit only n -type characteristics. Here, we report InAs NCs with controlled semiconductor polarity. Both p - and n -type InAs NCs can be achieved from the same indium chloride and aminoarsine precursors but by using two different reducing agents, diethylzinc for p -type and diisobutylaluminum hydride for n -type NCs, respectively. This is the first instance of semiconductor polarity control achieved at the synthesis level for InAs NCs and the entire semiconductor nanocrystal systems. Comparable field-effective mobilities for holes (3.3 × 10 ⁻³ cm ² /V·s) and electrons (3.9 × 10 ⁻³ cm ² /V·s) are achieved from the respective NC films. The mobility values allow the successful fabrication of complementary logic circuits, including NOT, NOR, and NAND comprising photopatterned p - and n -channels based on InAs NCs.