Plasticity Promoted Band Structure Engineering Achieved by Arrayed Indentation on GaAs Wafers

Engineered defective sites on semiconductors offer opportunities for the design of novel optoelectronic devices with functions that are not intrinsically available. It is demonstrated that composite photonic crystal can be created on GaAs wafers by arrayed indentation. The indentation pattern supports photochemical cultivation of Ag nanoplates with a new principle involving plasticity promoted band engineering. It also provides a variety of novel functions not originally available in either GaAs or Ag nanostructures. In particular, this unique structure exhibits white light photoluminescence emission, strong enough to be perceived by the naked eye upon excitation with a 375 nm laser. This plasticity mediated principle opens a new avenue for the design and fabrication of novel composite semiconductor/metal structures with exotic properties.