Wurtzite GaAs Quantum Wires: One-Dimensional Subband Formation

It is of contemporary interest to fabricate nanowires having quantum confinement and one-dimensional subband formation. This is due to a host of applications, for example, in optical devices, and in quantum optics. We have here fabricated and optically investigated narrow, down to 10 nm diameter, wurtzite GaAs nanowires which show strong quantum confinement and the formation of one-dimensional subbands. The fabrication was bottom up and in one step using the vapor liquid-solid growth mechanism. Combining photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy with transmission electron microscopy on the same individual nanowires, we were able to extract the effective masses of the electrons in the two lowest conduction bands as well as the effective masses of the holes in the two highest valence bands. Our results, combined with earlier demonstrations of thin crystal phase nanodots in GaAs, set the stage for the fabrication of crystal phase quantum dots having full three-dimensional confinement.