Nearly intrinsic exciton lifetimes in single twin-free GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowire heterostructures

Abstract

CW and time-resolvedphotoluminescence measurements are used to investigate exciton recombination dynamics in GaAs∕AlGaAsheterostructurenanowires grown with a recently developed technique which minimizes twinning. A thin capping layer is deposited to eliminate the possibility of oxidation of the AlGaAs shell as a source of oxygen defects in the GaAs core. We observe exciton lifetimes of ∼1ns, comparable to high quality two-dimensional double heterostructures. These GaAsnanowires allow one to observe state filling and many-body effects resulting from the increased carrier densities accessible with pulsed laser excitation.