Photo- and cathodoluminescence of AlGaAs single quantum wires on vicinal GaAs (110) surfaces

Abstract AlGaAs quantum wires are naturally formed by the compositional modulation in an AlGaAs layer on vicinal GaAs (110) surfaces with quasi-periodic giant growth steps by molecular beam epitaxy. We put an Al mask with a 0.3 μm wide slit on the sample surface to get the single quantum wire's photoluminescence (PL). Two sharp PL bands are observed through this slit and are concluded to come from the two single quantum wires. Cathodoluminescence (CL) spot spectra with a small excitation area show the fine structures with several sharp lines which originate from different quantum wires. The monochromatic CL images clearly show the individual single quantum wires.