ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of mechanisms that influence the localization and the energy levels of carriers in Nanowires (NWs). It aims compare these mechanisms to those that occur in planar layers or quantum dots and discusses specific features of NWs. The electronic properties of a semiconductor nanostructure are significantly modified if the system is subject to elastic relaxation. In radial semiconductor NW heterostructures—typically referred to as core–shell NW—a core material is surrounded by one or more shells consisting of different materials or having different doping densities. Axial NW heterostructures consist, similar to planar heterostructures, of thin layers separated by the matrix material. Semiconductors in the form of NWs not only show altered electrical characteristics but also strongly modified optical properties. The polarization properties of interband transitions have been commonly used to extract the strain state of planar structures.
