Unraveling the Role of Secondary Phases in Optical Behavior of Hybrid Semiconductor Nanowire Architectures

Hybrid semiconductor nanowire architectures are crucial building blocks for novel optoelectronic nanodevices. Recently, we have demonstrated the critical role of secondary phases in the optical response of Zn doped Sn1-xGexO2 crystallites on Zn2GeO4 nanowires. In particular, our findings suggest a connection between the Zn impurities, the formation of a secondary phase and the asymmetrically distributed UV emission. However, a full understanding of the origin of this phase segregation is still lacking. This proposal aims to use scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy at the ID01 beamline to analyze the secondary phase formation and the strain distribution in these hybrid architectures in order to clarify the mechanisms behind the radiative transitions in these hybrid architectures