Micro-photoluminescence characterizations of GaInAsP/InP single quantum wires fabricated by dry etching and regrowth

We characterized the micro-photoluminescence (micro-PL) of GaInAsP/InP single quantum wires (Q -wires) at 6 K. The Q -wires had 6-39-nm lateral widths and a 6-nm vertical thickness and were fabricated by dry etching and regrowth. Micro-PL spectra were clearly observed for all single Q -wires. The spectra revealed a high degree of uniformity along the Q -wires. The PL peak energy showed a systematic blueshift with the reduction of the Q -wire lateral width. The blueshift was attributed to the lateral quantum confinement and strain from a lateral direction, and was 100 meV in a 6-nm-wide Q -wire. Systematic analysis on the PL widths of the Q -wires showed that the PL spectra were broadened by fluctuations of 3 nm in the lateral width of the Q -wire after the dry etching and the regrowth in addition to the broadening caused by the fluctuation in the vertical thickness during the initial film growth and that caused by ion bombardment through a Ti metal mask in the dry etching process. The decreased PL intensities in narrow Q -wires were also analyzed, and they were attributed to decreased PL quantum yield because of damage to the etched sidewalls of the Q -wires during dry etching, and to the absorption cross-sections of the excitation light.