Germanium telluride nanowires and nanohelices with memory-switching behavior

We report the synthesis of single-crystalline GeTe nanowires (NWs) and nanohelices (NHs) using a vapor transport method assisted by metal catalysts. The NWs have typical diameters of 65 +/- 20 nm and lengths reaching up to 50 mum, while NHs have an average helix diameter of 135 +/- 30 nm, with widely varying pitches. Electron microscopy and diffraction measurements show that these NWs and NHs are single crystalline and exhibit a rhombohedral structure. The devices incorporating individual GeTe NWs exhibit nonvolatile resistance changes associated with voltage-driven crystalline-amorphous transitions, suggesting that these NWs can be the basis of an electrically driven nonvolatile memory.