Built-in surface electric field, piezoelectricity and photoelastic effect in GaN nanorods for nanophotonic devices.

Novel behaviors arising from the coupling between the built-in surface electric field, piezoelectricity, electron-hole pairs and external light beam were observed in GaN nanorods. An increase in the optical excitation density resulted in a blueshift in the photoluminescence spectra and a redshift in the frequency of the GaN A(1)(LO) phonon. The underlying mechanism was attributed to the screening of the built-in surface electric field by photoexcited carriers and, through the converse piezoelectric effect, a reduction in the internal strain. The existence of the built-in surface electric field in GaN nanorods was confirmed by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy. Our results firmly establish the existence of the photoelastic effect in GaN nanorods. In addition to underpinning the principle for applications in nanophotonic devices, this discovery also draws attention to the novel effects arising from the inherent large surface-to-volume ratio of nanostructures, which is possibly applicable to many other nanomaterials.