Fabrication and optical property of silicon oxide layer coated semiconductor gallium nitride nanowires

Quasi one-dimensional GaN-SiO2 nanostructures, with a silicon oxide layer coated on semiconductor GaN nanowires, were successfully synthesized through as-synthesized SiO2 nanoparticles-assisted reaction. The experimental results indicate that the nanostructure consists of single-crystal line wurtzite GaN nanowire core, an amorphous SiO2 outer shell separated in the radial direction. These quasi one-dimensional nanowires have the diameters of a few tens of nanometers and lengths up to several hundreds of micrometers. The photoluminescence spectrum of the GaN-SiO2 nanostructures consists of one broad blue-light emission peak at 480 nm and another weak UV emission peak at 345 nm. The novel method, which may results in high yield and high reproducibility, is demonstrated to be a unique technique for producing nanostructures with controlled morphology.