HIGH-DENSITY IN0.14GA0.86AS (GAAS)(5)(ALAS)(5) QUANTUM WIRES NATURALLY FORMED ON (775)B-ORIENTED GAAS SUBSTRATES BY MOLECULAR-BEAM EPITAXY/

In0.14Ga0.86As/(GaAs)(5)(AlAs)(5) Quantum Wires (QWRs) were naturally formed in a thin In0.14Ga0.86As/(GaAs)(5)(AlAs)(5) Quantum Well (QW) w ith a regularly corrugated AlAs/In0.14Ga0.86As upper interface (a peri od of about 40 nm) and a flat In0.14Ga0.86As/AlAs lower interface grow n on (775)B-oriented GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The QW Rs were formed side by side with a high density of 2.5 x 10(5) QWRs cm (-1). A photoluminescence from the QWRs formed in the QW with an avera ge well width of 2.2 nm, which have a cross section of about 40 x 4 nm (2), showed a strong polarization dependence [the polarization degree P = (I-parallel to - I-perpendicular to)/(I-parallel to + I-perpendicu lar to) = 0.19], indicating good one-dimensionality of those QWRs. Ful l width at half maximum of the PL peak from the In0.14Ga0.86As/(GaAs)( 5)(AlAs)5 QWRs was as small as 17 meV at 14 K, which is smaller than a ny of other naturally synthesized QWRs reported so far. (C) 1998 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.