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Nano Research 2018, 11(9): 4708-4721 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2053-5
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 28 April 2018

Electronic properties of wurtzite GaAs: A correlated structural, optical, and theoretical analysis of the same polytypic GaAs nanowire

Show Author's Information Alexander Senichev1,†,§( ),  Pierre Corfdir2,‡,§,  Oliver Brandt2,  Manfred Ramsteiner2,  Steffen Breuer2,|,|,  Jörg Schilling3,  Lutz Geelhaar2,  Peter Werner1
Max-Planck-Institut für MikrostrukturphysikHalle06120Germany
Paul-Drude-Institut für FestkörperelektronikBerlin10117Germany
Centre for Innovation Competence SiLi-nanoMartin-Luther-UniversitätHalle06120Germany

† Present address: Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA

‡ Present address: Fraunhofer HHI, Berlin 10587, Germany

||Present address: ABB Corporate Research, Baden-Dättwil 5405, Switzerland

Keywords:
photoluminescence, strain, nanowires, crystal-phase quantum structures, wurtzite GaAs, near-field scanning optical microscopy
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Senichev A, Corfdir P, Brandt O, et al. Electronic properties of wurtzite GaAs: A correlated structural, optical, and theoretical analysis of the same polytypic GaAs nanowire. Nano Research, 2018, 11(9): 4708-4721. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2053-5
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

III-V compound semiconductor nanowires are generally characterized by the coexistence of zincblende and wurtzite structures. So far, this polytypism has impeded the determination of the electronic properties of the metastable wurtzite phase of GaAs, which thus remain highly controversial. In an effort to obtain new insights into this topic, we cross-correlate nanoscale spectral imaging by near-field scanning optical microscopy with a transmission electron microscopy analysis of the very same polytypic GaAs nanowire dispersed onto a Si wafer. Thus, spatially resolved photoluminescence spectra could be unambiguously assigned to nanowire segments whose structure is known with lattice-resolved accuracy. An emission energy of 1.528 eV was observed from extended zincblende segments, revealing that the dispersed nanowire was under uniaxial strain presumably due to interaction with its supporting substrate. These crucial information and the emission energy obtained for extended pure wurtzite segments were used to perform envelope function calculations of zincblende quantum disks in a wurtzite matrix as well as the inverse structure. In these calculations, we varied the fundamental bandgap, the electron mass, and the band offset between zincblende and wurtzite GaAs. From this multi-parameter comparison with the experimental data, we deduced that the bandgap between the Γ8 conduction and A valence band ranges from 1.532 to 1.539 eV in strain-free wurtzite GaAs, and estimated values of 1.507 to 1.514 eV for the Γ7–A bandgap.


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About this article

Electronic properties of wurtzite GaAs: A correlated structural, optical, and theoretical analysis of the same polytypic GaAs nanowire

Show Author's information Alexander Senichev1,†,§( ), Pierre Corfdir2,‡,§, Oliver Brandt2, Manfred Ramsteiner2, Steffen Breuer2,|,|, Jörg Schilling3, Lutz Geelhaar2, Peter Werner1
Max-Planck-Institut für MikrostrukturphysikHalle06120Germany
Paul-Drude-Institut für FestkörperelektronikBerlin10117Germany
Centre for Innovation Competence SiLi-nanoMartin-Luther-UniversitätHalle06120Germany

† Present address: Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA

‡ Present address: Fraunhofer HHI, Berlin 10587, Germany

||Present address: ABB Corporate Research, Baden-Dättwil 5405, Switzerland

Abstract

III-V compound semiconductor nanowires are generally characterized by the coexistence of zincblende and wurtzite structures. So far, this polytypism has impeded the determination of the electronic properties of the metastable wurtzite phase of GaAs, which thus remain highly controversial. In an effort to obtain new insights into this topic, we cross-correlate nanoscale spectral imaging by near-field scanning optical microscopy with a transmission electron microscopy analysis of the very same polytypic GaAs nanowire dispersed onto a Si wafer. Thus, spatially resolved photoluminescence spectra could be unambiguously assigned to nanowire segments whose structure is known with lattice-resolved accuracy. An emission energy of 1.528 eV was observed from extended zincblende segments, revealing that the dispersed nanowire was under uniaxial strain presumably due to interaction with its supporting substrate. These crucial information and the emission energy obtained for extended pure wurtzite segments were used to perform envelope function calculations of zincblende quantum disks in a wurtzite matrix as well as the inverse structure. In these calculations, we varied the fundamental bandgap, the electron mass, and the band offset between zincblende and wurtzite GaAs. From this multi-parameter comparison with the experimental data, we deduced that the bandgap between the Γ8 conduction and A valence band ranges from 1.532 to 1.539 eV in strain-free wurtzite GaAs, and estimated values of 1.507 to 1.514 eV for the Γ7–A bandgap.

Keywords: photoluminescence, strain, nanowires, crystal-phase quantum structures, wurtzite GaAs, near-field scanning optical microscopy

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Publication history

Received: 05 August 2017
Revised: 15 March 2018
Accepted: 17 March 2018
Published: 28 April 2018
Issue date: September 2018

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© The author(s) 2018

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We thank Uwe Jahn for invaluable discussions, and Oliver Marquardt for a critical reading of the manuscript. A. S. is indebted to Christoph Lienau for fruitful discussions of NSOM experiments, Horst Blumtritt for the FIB preparation of single nanowires for TEM analysis, as well as to Wilfried Erfurth and Kornelia Sklarek for electron-beam lithography. P. C. acknowledges funding from the Fonds National Suisse de la Recherche Scientifique through project No. 161032.

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