Effects of nanowire coalescence on their structural and optical properties on a local scale

Abstract

The effects of GaN nanowire coalescence have been investigated on a local scale by combining high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging with spatially resolved cathodoluminescence measurements. Coalescence induces the formation of a network of boundary dislocations, above which I1-type basal-plane stacking faults are nucleated. The former contributes to the reduction in the crystalline quality at the bottom of coalesced nanowires while the latter leads to intense excitonic radiative transitions at 3.42 eV in their center. Despite coalescence, the top of coalesced nanowires presents a very high crystalline quality, resulting in strong radiative recombinations of donor bound excitons at 3.47 eV.