Synthesis and optical properties of single crystalline GaN nanorods with a rectangular cross-section

GaN nanorods were synthesized from the reaction of a Ga/Ga2O3 mixture with NH3 on Si substrates by chemical vapor deposition. The synthesized products were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy. The nanorods are highly single crystalline and possess uniform smooth surfaces. PL revealed only a strong emission at 3.268 eV, ascribed to free exciton (FX) transitions, at room temperature; while the well-known yellow luminescence band centered at 2.2–2.3 eV was not detected. Four first-order phonon modes, corresponding to the A1(TO), E1(TO), E2(high), and A1(LO) at ∼531, 554, 564, and 721 cm−1, respectively, were observed by Raman backscattering. The red-shift of the FX emission peak and the down-shifts of the Raman modes by a few wave numbers are attributed to the presence of tensile strain inside GaN nanorods.