In research led by Hannah Joyce (University of Cambridge), and colleagues at the University of Oxford and the Australian National University we have reported an in-depth terahertz study of the influence of surfaces on carrier recombination in nanowires.

By performing power-dependant and diameter-dependant measurements, Hannah determined the surface recombination velocity in GaAs nanowires. Given the huge surface-area-to-volume ratio in nanowires, this is a key property and one which is essential to understanding the electronic performance in this nanomaterial.