Self-Catalyzed AlGaAs Nanowires and AlGaAs/GaAs Nanowire-Quantum Dots on Si Substrates

Self-catalyzed AlGaAs nanowires (NWs) and NWs with a GaAs quantum dot (QD) were monolithically grown on Si(111) substrates via solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. This growth technique is advantageous in comparison to the previously employed Au-catalyzed approach, as it removes Au contamination issues and renders the structures compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology applications. Structural studies reveal the self-formation of an Al-rich AlGaAs shell, thicker at the NW base and thinning towards the tip, with the opposite behavior observed for the NW core. Wide alloy fluctuations in the shell region are also noticed. AlGaAs NW structures with nominal Al contents of 10, 20, and 30% have strong room temperature photoluminescence, with emission in the range of 1.50-1.72 eV. Individual NWs with an embedded 4.9 nm-thick GaAs region exhibit clear QD behavior, with spatially localized emission, both exciton and biexciton recombination lines, and an exciton line width of 490 mu eV at low temperature. Our results demonstrate the properties and behavior of the AlGaAs NWs and AlGaAs/GaAs NWQDs grown via the self-catalyzed approach for the first time and exhibit their potential for a range of novel applications, including nanolasers and single-photon sources.

Automated summary

Self-catalyzed AlGaAs nanowires and AlGaAs/GaAs nanowires with quantum dots were successfully grown on Si substrates, showing strong room temperature photoluminescence and potential for applications in nanolasers and single-photon sources. The structural studies revealed the self-formation of an Al-rich AlGaAs shell with wide alloy fluctuations, while individual nanowires exhibited clear quantum dot behavior with spatially localized emission and narrow exciton line width.