Probing the internal electric field in GaN/AlGaN nanowire heterostructures

Nano Lett. 2014 Sep 10;14(9):5118-22. doi: 10.1021/nl501845m. Epub 2014 Aug 20.

Abstract

We demonstrate the direct analysis of polarization-induced internal electric fields in single GaN/Al0.3Ga0.7N nanodiscs embedded in GaN/AlN nanowire heterostructures. Superposition of an external electric field with different polarity results in compensation or enhancement of the quantum-confined Stark effect in the nanodiscs. By field-dependent analysis of the low temperature photoluminescence energy and intensity, we prove the [0001̅]-polarity of the nanowires and determine the internal electric field strength to 1.5 MV/cm.

Keywords: GaN/AlGaN; Quantum-confined Stark effect; group III-nitride; internal polarization fields; microphotoluminescence; single nanowire.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't