Near-infrared emission from spatially indirect excitons in type II ZnTe/CdSe/(Zn,Mg)Te core/double-shell nanowires

TL;DR

This study investigates near-infrared emission from spatially indirect excitons in ZnTe/CdSe/(Zn,Mg)Te core/double-shell nanowires, revealing how structural parameters influence optical properties and confirming the excitonic origin of the emission.

Contribution

It demonstrates the origin of near-infrared emission as spatially indirect excitons at the ZnTe/CdSe interface and shows how shell thickness and Mg concentration affect emission energy.

Findings

Near-infrared emission is due to indirect excitons at the ZnTe/CdSe interface.

Emission energy shifts with shell thickness and Mg concentration due to strain effects.

Emission originates from nanowires, not residual deposits.

Abstract

ZnTe/CdSe/(Zn,Mg)Te core/double-shell nanowires are grown by molecular beam epitaxy by employing the vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism assisted with gold catalysts. A photoluminescence study of these structures reveals the presence of an optical emission in the near infrared. We assign this emission to the spatially indirect exciton recombination at the ZnTe/CdSe type II interface. This conclusion is confirmed by the observation of a significant blue-shift of the emission energy with an increasing excitation fluence induced by the electron-hole separation at the interface. Cathodoluminescence measurements reveal that the optical emission in the near infrared originates from nanowires and not from two dimensional residual deposits between them. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the emission energy in the near infrared depends on the average CdSe shell thickness and the average Mg concentration within the (Zn,Mg)Te shell. The main mechanism responsible for these changes is associated with the strain induced by the (Zn,Mg)Te shell in the entire core/shell nanowire heterostructure.