Highly Strained III-V-V Coaxial Nanowire Quantum Wells with Strong Carrier Confinement

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Optoelectronics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Coaxial quantum wells (QWs) are promising for nanowire (NW) lasers due to strong carrier confinement.
• Previous NW laser structures often used AlGaAs/GaAs, presenting limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the structural and optical properties of mixed group-V GaAsP NWs with GaAs QWs.
• To demonstrate lasing in this novel coaxial III-V-V quantum well system.

Main Methods:

• Growth of defect-free coaxial GaAs QWs within GaAsP NWs despite a significant lattice mismatch (1.7%).
• Detailed structural and optical characterization.
• Low-temperature photoluminescence and lasing measurements.

Main Results:

• Achieved defect-free GaAs coaxial QWs with high optical quality.
• Observed low-temperature lasing with a low external threshold of 20 μJ/cm²/pulse (0.9 μJ/cm² internal).
• Recorded a narrow lasing linewidth of approximately 0.15 nm.

Conclusions:

• Demonstrated the viability of coaxial III-V-V QWs for NW laser applications.
• Highlighted advantages including strong carrier confinement and potential for strain engineering.
• Established a new platform for developing efficient NW emitters.