Influence of strain relaxation on the optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well nanorods

Optical investigation has been carried out on InGaN/GaN nanorod structures with different indium compositions, fabricated from InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) epitaxial wafers using a self-organized nickel nano-mask and subsequent dry etching techniques. In comparison with the as-grown InGaN/GaN MQWs, the internal quantum efficiencies of the nanorods are significantly improved, in particular, for the green InGaN/GaN nanorods with a high indium composition, the internal quantum efficiency is enhanced by a factor of 8, much larger than the enhancement factor of 3.4 for the blue InGaN/GaN nanorods. X-ray reciprocal space mapping (RSM) measurements have been performed in order to quantitatively evaluate the stain relaxation in the nanorods, demonstrating that the majority of strain in InGaN/GaN MQWs can be relaxed as a result of fabrication into nanorods. The excitation-power-dependent photoluminescence measurements have also clearly shown that a significant reduction in the strain-induced quantum confined stark effect has occurred to the nanorod structures.