Comparative study on polaronic quantum confinement effects in wurtzite ZnO and GaN nanowires under external fields

• Polaronic effects in wurtzite ZnO and GaN nanowires are studied comparatively. • The effect of external fields on the polaron properties is considered. • The polaronic renormalization of electron energy and effective mass is studied. • The impact of polarity and fields on polaron characteristics has been substantiated. A comparative study of polaron phenomena in wurtzite-structured ZnO and GaN nanowires was conducted. The study considered the features of the phonon spectrum and electron–phonon interaction for a polar cylindrical nanowire in a non-polar medium influenced by external electric and magnetic fields. The Fröhlich polaron self-energy and the polaronic correction to the effective mass of the electron were investigated using the Lee–Low–Pines transformation method. Considering the differences in the polarities of ZnO and GaN nanowires, the contributions of quasi-confined and interface optical phonon modes to the polaron basic parameters have been studied depending on the strength of the external fields. The results obtained and their justifications can be significant for controlling polaron dynamics through the nanowire radius and the strengths of the external fields. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comparative study addressing the polaron properties in ZnO and GaN nanowires under external electric and magnetic fields.