Quantum transport in GaN/AlN double-barrier heterostructure nanowires

Abstract: We investigate electronic transport in n-i-n GaN nanowires with and without AlN double barriers. The nanowires are grown by catalyst-free, plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy enabling abrupt GaN/AlN interfaces as well as longitudinal n-type doping modulation. At low temperature, transport in n-i-n GaN nanowires is dominated by the Coulomb blockade effect. Carriers are confined in the undoped middle region, forming single or multiple islands with a characteristic length of ~100 nm. The incorporation of two AlN tunnel barriers causes confinement to occur within the GaN well in between. In the case of 6-nm-thick wells and 2-nm-thick barriers, we observe characteristic signatures of Coulomb-blockaded transport in single quantum dots with discrete energy states. For narrower wells and barriers, Coulomb-blockade effects do not play a significant role while the onset of resonant tunneling via the confined quantum levels is accompanied by a negative differential resistance surviving up to ~150 K.