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Title: Three-dimensional nanoscale study of Al segregation and quantum dot formation in GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4904952· OSTI ID:22395549
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  1. Laboratoire des Matériaux Semiconducteurs, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)
  2. Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, CAT (Spain)

GaAs/Al-GaAs core-shell nanowires fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy contain quantum confining structures susceptible of producing narrow photoluminescence (PL) and single photons. The nanoscale chemical mapping of these structures is analyzed in 3D by atom probe tomography (APT). The study allows us to confirm that Al atoms tend to segregate within the AlGaAs shells towards the vertices of the hexagons defining the nanowire cross section. We also find strong alloy fluctuations remaining AlGaAs shell, leading occasionally to the formation of quantum dots (QDs). The PL emission energies predicted in the framework of a 3D effective mass model for a QD analyzed by APT and the PL spectra measured on other nanowires from the same growth batch are consistent within the experimental uncertainties.

OSTI ID:
22395549
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 24; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English