Effect of indium segregation on optical properties of V-groove InGaAs/GaAs strained quantum wires

Self-ordered, strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum structures are grown on V-grooved GaAs substrates. The lateral patterning of these nonplanar heterostructures allows the growth of defect-free strained structures with thickness exceeding that achieved with planar epitaxy. Indium segregation at the bottom of the groove results in the formation of a vertical InGaAs quantum-well structure with In-enriched composition. We studied in detail the influence of nominal thickness and In content on the photoluminescence peak energy of these quantum wires. Room-temperature emission at 1.16 μm with a relatively narrow linewidth (30–35 meV) is achieved as a demonstration of the potential of this approach for fabricating long-wavelength semiconductor light sources on GaAs substrates.