American Institute of Physics, Journal of Applied Physics, 13(113), p. 136511
DOI: 10.1063/1.4795544
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This work reports on the elemental distribution and local structure of single In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N nanowires (NWs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si (111) substrates using X-ray fluorescence nanoprobe. Ga and In maps reveal an inhomogeneous elemental distribution along the NWs, with a higher Ga concentration at the bottom of the NW. Scanning electron microscopy images show that the inhomogeneous axial distribution is not correlated with a X-ray beam induced damage, and therefore, should be an intrinsic characteristic of the NWs arising from the growth process. Spatially resolved X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy data acquired around the In K-edge show that the tetrahedral structure is preserved around the absorbing In-atoms all along the NW, and suggests that the compositional modulation could be affecting its long-range order.