Visible light emission from self-catalyzed GaInP/GaP core-shell double heterostructure nanowires on silicon

The authors report on the formation, structural analyses, and optical properties of GaInP/GaP self-catalyzed core-shell double heterostructure nanowires (NWs) grown on Si(111) substrates. The NW growth is initiated with the formation of Ga droplets as catalysts, followed by the growth of GaP core and GaInP double heterostructure shells. Structural analyses elucidate the existence of interfaces among GaP core and GaInP double heterostructure shells. Light emissions at 640 and 800 nm are observed at 77 K from GaInP core-shell double heterostructure NWs and surface states of GaInP layers, respectively. The signal from the surface state can be mitigated via surface passivation with ammonium sulfide solution. These results will enable the realization of novel NW-based light-emitting diodes or nanolasers grown on Si substrates utilizing mature Si technologies. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3457355]