Charge separation in CdSe/CdTe hetero-nanowires measured by electrostatic force microscopy

The charge state of free standing axial type-II CdSe/CdTe hetero-nanowires is monitored via electrostatic force microscopy. The CdSe and the CdTe segment which are identified by Raman spectroscopy are found to be negatively and positively charged, respectively. The charge state is monitored without and with local illumination. We found that the magnitude of opposite charging in the respective nanowire segment is increasing with illumination power, which is attributed to a charge separation of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs across the CdSe/CdTe interface. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3676278]