Self-ordering and confinement in strained InGaAs/AlGaAs V-groove quantum wires grown by low-pressure organometallic chemical vapor deposition

The structure and low temperature luminescence properties of compressively strained InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum wire (QWR) arrays grown by low-pressure organometallic chemical vapor deposition on V-grooved substrates are reported. The strain gives rise to quasi-periodic undulations of the wire facets along the wire axis, resulting in ordered chains of quantum dotlike structures. Low-temperature photoluminescence shows efficient emission from the wires with narrow (as low as 9.8 meV) linewidths and relatively high intensities. At high excitation densities, several quasi-one-dimensional QWR subbands appear as a result of bandfilling, presenting virtually no energy shifts (<2 meV), even when several (⩾3) subbands are filled.