Photoluminescence properties of InAs nanowires grown on GaAs and Si substrates

We report the first photoluminescence (PL) characterization of InAs nanowires (NWs). The InAs NWs were grown on GaAs(111) B and Si(111) substrates using the Au-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth technique or metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). We compared the PL response of four samples grown under different conditions using MBE or MOCVD. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns were utilized to determine the crystal structure and growth directions of the NWs to relate PL features to NW structural parameters. We observed mainly three PL peaks which were below, near and above InAs bandgaps, respectively. Temperature and excitation intensity dependence PL measurements were also performed to help elucidate the origins of the PL peaks of NWs. Of particular interest was a band-edge emission peak that was blue-shifted due to quantization effects of the InAs NWs, as confirmed by our calculation.