Influence of strain relaxation in axial In x Ga 1 − x N GaN nanowire heterostructures on their electronic properties

We present a systematic theoretical study of the influence of elastic strain relaxation on the built-in electrostatic potentials and the electronic properties of axial In x Ga 1 − x N GaN nanowire (NW) heterostructures. Our simulations reveal that for a sufficiently large ratio between the thickness...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanotechnology 2017-05, Vol.28 (21)
Main Authors: Marquardt, Oliver, Krause, Thilo, Kaganer, Vladimir, Martín-Sánchez, Javier, Hanke, Michael, Brandt, Oliver
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
elastic relaxation
electronic properties
Nanowires
piezoelectricity
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We present a systematic theoretical study of the influence of elastic strain relaxation on the built-in electrostatic potentials and the electronic properties of axial In x Ga 1 − x N GaN nanowire (NW) heterostructures. Our simulations reveal that for a sufficiently large ratio between the thickness of the In x Ga 1 − x N disk and the diameter of the NW, the elastic relaxation leads to a significant reduction of the built-in electrostatic potential in comparison to a planar system of similar layer thickness and In content. In this case, the ground state transition energies approach constant values with increasing thickness of the disk and only depend on the In content, a behavior usually associated to that of a quantum well free of built-in electrostatic potentials. We show that the structures under consideration are by no means field-free, and the built-in potentials continue to play an important role even for ultrathin NWs. In particular, strain and the resulting polarization potentials induce complex confinement features of electrons and holes, which depend on the In content, shape, and dimensions of the heterostructure.
ISSN:0957-4484
1361-6528
DOI:10.1088/1361-6528/aa6b73