Luminescence of GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires grown by MOVPE using tertiarybutylarsine

The luminescence properties of GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) on ((1) over bar (1) over bar (1) over bar )B GaAs using tertiarybutylarsine, trimethylgallium and trimethylaluminium are reported. Untapered kink-free GaAs nanowires with average diameters around 50-70 nm were grown at 400 degrees C by the vapour-liquid-solid method; to this purpose, colloidal Au nanoparticles were used as metal catalyst. Al(0.33)Ga(0.67)As shells were grown at 650 degrees C around GaAs nanowires by conventional MOVPE, with thickness ranging in the 70-160 nm interval. Low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and high spatial resolution cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements were performed, respectively, on dense ensembles of core-shell nanowires (still on their original substrates) and single nanowires: comparison between secondary electron and monochromatic CL images of single nanowires led to spatially resolve the major CL emissions. The low-temperature luminescence of nanowires above the GaAs band-gap energy consists of three contributions: (i) the 1.997 eV band-edge (excitonic) emission of the Al(0.33)Ga(0.67)As shell, followed (in CL spectra) by a more intense GaAs-like LO-phonon replica; (ii) a broad weaker band at similar to 1.90 eV, ascribed to a donor-acceptor pair recombination associated to residual Si donors in the AlGaAs; and (iii) a dominant and very broad band at similar to 1.67 eV, due to the spatially indirect recombination between electrons in the core and holes in the shell. Comparison between CL and PL spectra suggests that each nanowire has a slightly different GaAs core emission, its peak energy varying in the 1.46-1.49 eV interval. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.