Multi-quantum-well nanowire heterostructures for wavelength-controlled lasers

Rational design and synthesis of nanowires with increasingly complex structures can yield enhanced and/or novel electronic and photonic functions(1,2). For example, Ge/Si core/shell nanowires have exhibited substantially higher performance as field-effect transistors(3) and low-temperature quantum devices(4,5) compared with homogeneous materials, and nano-roughened Si nanowires were recently shown to have an unusually high thermoelectric figure of merit(6). Here, we report the first multi-quantum-well (MQW) core/shell nanowire heterostructures based on well-defined III-nitride materials that enable lasing over a broad range of wavelengths at room temperature. Transmission electron microscopy studies show that the triangular GaN nanowire cores enable epitaxial and dislocation-free growth of highly uniform (InGaN/GaN)(n) quantum wells with n = 3, 13 and 26 and InGaN well thicknesses of 1-3 nm. Optical excitation of individual MQW nanowire structures yielded lasing with InGaN quantum-well composition-dependent emission from 365 to 494 nm, and threshold dependent on quantum well number, n. Our work demonstrates a new level of complexity in nanowire structures, which potentially can yield free-standing injection nanolasers.