  The structural and optical properties of 3 different kinds of GaAs nanowires
with 100% zinc-blende structure and with an average of 30% and 70% wurtzite are
presented. A variety of shorter and longer segments of zinc-blende or wurtzite
crystal phases are observed by transmission electron microscopy in the
nanowires. Sharp photoluminescence lines are observed with emission energies
tuned from 1.515 eV down to 1.43 eV when the percentage of wurtzite is
increased. The downward shift of the emission peaks can be understood by
carrier confinement at the interfaces, in quantum wells and in random short
period superlattices existent in these nanowires, assuming a staggered
band-offset between wurtzite and zinc-blende GaAs. The latter is confirmed also
by time resolved measurements. The extremely local nature of these optical
transitions is evidenced also by cathodoluminescence measurements. Raman
spectroscopy on single wires shows different strain conditions, depending on
the wurtzite content which affects also the band alignments. Finally, the
occurrence of the two crystallographic phases is discussed in thermodynamic
terms.
