Synchrotron nanoimaging of single In-rich InGaN nanowires

This work reports on the elemental distribution and local structure of single In_xGa_1–xN 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.