Growth and properties of Dy-doped GaN nanowires

GaN nanowires doped with Dy have been fabricated on Si (111) substrate through ammoniating Ga2O3 films doped with rare earth phosphor. The samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and photoluminescence (PL). The results demonstrate that the Dy-doped GaN nanowires were single crystalline with hexagonal wurtzite structure. The diameters of the nanowires were about 50 nm and the lengths were up to several tens micrometers. Also, the optical properties of the nanowires were greatly dependent on the doping of Dy. The growth mechanism of crystalline GaN nanowires is discussed briefly.