Optical properties of single ZnTe nanowires grown at low temperature

摘要

Optically active gold-catalyzed ZnTe nanowires have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy, on a ZnTe(111) buffer layer, at low temperature (350 ℃) under Te rich conditions, and at ultra-low density (from 1 to 5 nanowires per μm~2). The crystalline structure is zinc blende as identified by transmission electron microscopy. All nanowires are tapered and the majority of them are <111> oriented. Low temperature micro-photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence experiments have been performed on single nanowires. We observe a narrow emission line with a blue-shift of 2 or 3 meV with respect to the exciton energy in bulk ZnTe. This shift is attributed to the strain induced by a 5nm-thick oxide layer covering the nanowires, and this assumption is supported by a quantitative estimation of the strain in the nanowires.