Indium phosphide (InP) is an important III–V semiconductor, it exists in two crystalline forms wurtzite (WZ) and zinc blende (ZB) with direct band gaps of 1.42 and 1.35?eV at room temperature, respectively, and is a highly promising candidate for construction of viable nano-integrated circuits. 

Synthesis of indium phosphide

InP NWs have been fabricated both by vapour- and solution-phase techniques. Vapour-phase techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy and metal oxide chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) generally produce NWs on the pre-designed substrates. There exists a limit on the physical size of the substrate and the number of substrates that may be processed through a single batch. InP NWs synthesized using solution-phase approaches are relatively cost effective, require a minimum amount of substrate and are operative at low temperatures.

Indium phosphide has a face-centered cubic ("zincblende") crystal structure, identical to that of GaAs and most of the III-V semiconductors. The nanoscale dimensions of InP in the radial direction exhibit size confinement effects that give novel physical properties to nano-sized InP as compared to bulk materials. One-dimensional geometry on the nanometre (10?9?m) scale provides an extremely high surface area with a nanoscale radius of curvature and great mechanical flexibility.