Direct Band Gap AlGaAs Wurtzite Nanowires

Wurtzite AlGaAs is a technologically promising yet unexplored material. Here we study it both experimentally and numerically. We develop a complete numerical model based on an 8-band (k) over right arrow center dot(p) over right arrow method, including electromechanical fields, and calculate the optoelectronic properties of wurtzite AlGaAs nanowires with different Al content. We then compare them with our experimental data. Our results strongly suggest that wurtzite AlGaAs is a direct band gap material. Moreover, we have also numerically obtained the band gap of wurtzite AlAs and the valence band offset between AlAs and GaAs in the wurtzite symmetry.

Automated summary

We conducted a study on Wurtzite AlGaAs using both experimental and numerical methods, and found that it is a technologically promising yet unexplored material. By developing a complete numerical model based on an 8-band (k) over right arrow center dot(p) over right arrow method, including electromechanical fields, we calculated the optoelectronic properties of wurtzite AlGaAs nanowires with different Al content and compared them with experimental data. Our results strongly indicate that wurtzite AlGaAs is a direct band gap material. Additionally, we numerically obtained the band gap of wurtzite AlAs and the valence band offset between AlAs and GaAs in the wurtzite symmetry.