Photoluminescence study of optically trapped InP semiconductor nanowires

Abstract

We report on the dynamics of micro-photoluminescence of single InP semiconductor nanowires trapped in a gradient force optical tweezers. Nanowires studied were of zinc blende, wurtzite or mixed phase crystal poly-types and ranged in length from one to ten micrometers. Our results show that the band-edge emission from trapped nanowires exhibits a quenching of the initial intensity with a characteristic time scale of a few seconds and an associated spectral red shift is also observed in the mixed phase nanowires.