Moire based strain analysis in wurtzite GaAs -- rock-salt (Pb,Sn)Te core-shell nanowires grown by molecular beam epitaxy

TL;DR

This study uses moiré pattern analysis to estimate strain in GaAs/(Pb,Sn)Te core-shell nanowires, offering a new approach for strain measurement in topological insulator nanostructures.

Contribution

It demonstrates the potential of moiré fringes analysis as an alternative method for strain estimation in core-shell nanowires with lattice mismatch.

Findings

Moiré fringes observed due to lattice mismatch.

Strain estimated from moiré pattern analysis.

Potential application in topological insulator nanostructures.

Abstract

We investigate core/shell GaAs/(Pb,Sn)Te nanowire nanoheterostructures with wurtzite (wz) GaAs cores and (Pb,Sn)Te topological crystalline insulator shells. The nanostructures have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy using two distinct MBE systems dedicated to III-V, and IV-VI semiconductors. The interface structure of wz-GaAs/(Pb,Sn)Te nanowires is investigated using high resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy and geometric phase analysis. Misfit dislocations and moir\'e fringes are observed as a direct result of the lattice mismatch between the core and the shell materials, and used to estimate strain in crystalline topological insulator shells. Our results point to a possibility of using moir\'e patterns analysis as an alternative, for estimating strain in the core-shell nanowire structures.