Structural investigation of GaInP nanowires using X-ray diffraction

In this work the structure of ternary Ga(x)In(1 − x)P nanowires is investigated with respect to the chemical composition and homogeneity. The nanowires were grown by metal–organic vapor-phase epitaxy. For the investigation of ensemble fluctuations on several lateral length scales, X-ray diffraction reciprocal space maps have been analyzed. The data reveal a complicated varying materials composition across the sample and in the nanowires on the order of 20%. The use of modern synchrotron sources, where beam-sizes in the order of several 10 μm are available, enables us to investigate compositional gradients along the sample by recording diffraction patterns at different positions. In addition, compositional variations were found also within single nanowires in X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy measurements.