A New Strategy for Selective Area Growth of Highly Uniform InGaAs/InP Multiple Quantum Well Nanowire Arrays for Optoelectronic Device Applications

III-V semiconductor nanowires with quantum wells (QWs) are promising for ultra-compact light sources and photodetectors from visible to infrared spectral region. However, most of the reported InGaAs/InP QW nanowires are based on the wurtzite phase and exhibit non-uniform morphology due to the complex heterostructure growth, making it challenging to incorporate multiple-QWs (MQW) for optoelectronic applications. Here, a new strategy for the growth of InGaAs/InP MQW nanowire arrays by selective area metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy is reported. It is revealed that {110} faceted InP nanowires with mixed zincblende and wurtzite phases can be achieved, forming a critical base for the subsequent growth of highly-uniform, taper-free, hexagonal-shaped MQW nanowire arrays with excellent optical properties. Room-temperature lasing at the wavelength of approximate to 1 mu m under optical pumping is achieved with a low threshold. By incorporating dopants to form an n(+)-i-n(+) structure, InGaAs/InP 40-QW nanowire array photodetectors are demonstrated with the broadband response (400-1600 nm) and high responsivities of 2175 A W-1 at 980 nm outperforming those of conventional planar InGaAs photodetectors. The results show that the new growth strategy is highly feasible to achieve high-quality InGaAs/InP MQW nanowires for the development of future optoelectronic devices and integrated photonic systems.

Automated summary

A new growth strategy has been developed for the high-quality InGaAs/InP MQW nanowires, demonstrating excellent optical properties and potential for optoelectronic applications.