Formation and Relaxation of Elastic Stress in Radial InAs/InP Nanoheterostructures

In this work, oriented arrays of InAs nanowires (NWs) and InAs/InP core-shell nanoheterostructures based on NWs synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy were studied. A high surface density of NWs in the array was demonstrated (5–10 NW/μm2). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy data showed that with shell thicknesses up to 15–20 nm, pseudomorphic growth of InP is possible on the side faces of InAs NWs and with shell thicknesses greater than 20 nm, complete relaxation of elastic stresses occurs. It was found that in radial heterostructured NWs with a thin InP shell, defects are formed only in the apex region, while no defect formation is observed at the radial heterointerface.