Monodisperse (In, Ga)N insertions in catalyst-free-grown GaN(0001) nanowires

Vertical stacks of (In, Ga)N insertions in GaN nanowires are grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The chemical composition and strain within the structure are probed by a combination of high-resolution x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and geometrical phase analysis. The (In, Ga)N insertions are coherently strained. Finite-element simulations strongly support an ineffective [corrected] strain relaxation despite [corrected] the nanowire geometry, leading to high-quality (In, Ga)N/GaN nanowire heterostructures. An intense green photoluminescence emission is observed and attributed to an inter-well transition between the stacked (In, Ga)N insertions.