Impact of sidewall recombination on the quantum efficiency of dry etched InGaAs/InP semiconductor wires

We have investigated the lateral width (Lx) dependence of the quantum efficiency of the excitonic recombination in etched InGaAs/InP wires (40 nm≤Lx≤5 μm). The analysis of data obtained at different temperatures implies that the intensity decay observed for narrow wires is due to the formation of an optically inactive (‘‘dead’’) layer and due to surface recombination.