Gallium Phosphide Nanowires Grown on SiO2 by Gas-Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Abstract

GaP as one of the III−V semiconductors has an indirect band gap in its natural zinc-blend (ZB) crystal phase, limiting its applications in optoelectronics. The atomic arrangements of the ZB GaP, however, can be changed by adding energy to the system, for example, using strain and defects. In such a way, GaP can be crystallized in the wurtzite (WZ) phase with a direct band gap in the yellow−green range and promising new optical properties. GaP nanostructures offer the great possibility to induce strain, and hence, one can expect to obtain the WZ phase by modifying the geometry and dimensionality of GaP. In this work, we present GaP nanowires (NWs) grown on SiO2 substrates by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. Raman measurements on individual GaP NWs indicate that NWs are poly-type crystal structures with the starting growth of the WZ phase, transforming into the ZB phase, and ending as the WZ phase. Photoluminescence at 9 K from an ensemble of NWs shows emissions at 2.09−2.14 eV, which are related to the direct band gap of the WZ phase and peaks between 2.26 and 2.3 eV due to the ZB phase. The emission of the WZ GaP phase is observable up to 160 K. Cathodoluminescence at 83 K shows directly the emission between 2.09 and 2.14 eV along the single NWs, indicating the presence of the WZ phase. Our results demonstrate the realization of poly-type, ZB, and WZ GaP NWs on SiO2 by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy.