QUANTUM WIRES AND DOTS FOR OPTICAL STUDIES

InGaAs/InP quantum wires with widths down to 10 nm and dots with diame ters down to 16 nm have been realized by electron beam lithography and wet chemical etching. Compared to previously investigated dry etching processes optically inactive sidewall layers can be avoided. The lumi nescence spectra of the quantum wires and dots show band edge shifts o f up to about 80 meV due to the lateral quantization. Under high optic al excitation several lateral states are populated. The lateral size d ependence of the transition energies can be modelled quite accurately based on the measured sizes of the nanostructures. From the increase o f the luminescence linewidths at low excitation in narrow quantum wire s the typical size fluctuations in our structures are estimated to be on the order of +/- 2 nm.