Engineering parallel and perpendicular polarized photoluminescence from a single semiconductor nanowire by crystal phase control.

We report on a crystal phase-dependent photoluminescence (PL) polarization effect in individual wurtzite GaAs nanowires with a zinc blende GaAsSb insert grown by Au-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The PL emission from the zinc blende GaAsSb insert is strongly polarized along the nanowire axis while the emission from the wurtzite GaAs nanowire is perpendicularly polarized. The results indicate that the crystal phases, through optical selection rules, are playing an important role in the alignment of the PL polarization in nanowires besides the linear polarization induced by the dielectric mismatch. The strong excitation power dependence and long recombination lifetimes ( approximately 4 ns) from the wurtzite GaAs and zinc blende GaAsSb-related PL emission strongly indicate the existence of type II band alignments in the nanowire due to the presence of nanometer thin zinc blende segments and stacking faults in the wurtzite GaAs barrier.

Growth and characterization of wurtzite GaAs nanowires with defect-free zinc blende GaAsSb inserts.

We have demonstrated the growth of a unique wurtzite (WZ) GaAs nanowire (NW) with a zinc blende (ZB) GaAsSb insert by Au-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. An abrupt interface from the WZ GaAs phase to the ZB GaAsSb phase was observed, whereas an intermediate segment of a 4H polytype GaAs phase was found directly above the ZB GaAsSb insert. A possible mechanism for the different phase transitions is discussed. Furthermore, low temperature microphotoluminescence (micro-PL) measurements showed evidence of quantum confinement of holes in the GaAsSb insert.