Electronic Structures of Group-III-Nitride Nanorods Studied by X-ray Absorption, X-ray Emission, and Raman Spectroscopy

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) and metal (Al, Ga, and In) K-edge x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES), x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES), and Raman scattering measurements were performed to elucidate the electronic structures of group-III–nitride nanorods and thin films of AlN, GaN, and InN. XANES spectra show slight increase of the numbers of unoccupied N p states in GaN and AlN nanorods, which may be attributed to a slight increase of the degree of localization of conduction band states. The band gaps of AlN, GaN, and InN nanorods are determined by an overlay of XES and XANES spectra to be 6.2, 3.5, and 1.9 eV, respectively, which are close to those of AlN and GaN bulk/films and InN polycrystals.