  The exciton localization is studied in GaAs/GaAlAs V-shaped quantum wires
(QWRs) by high spatial resolution spectroscopy. Scanning optical imaging of
different generations of samples shows that the localization length has been
enhanced as the growth techniques were improved. In the best samples, excitons
are delocalized in islands of length of the order of 1 micron, and form a
continuum of 1D states in each of them, as evidenced by the sqrt(T) dependence
of the radiative lifetime. On the opposite, in the previous generation of QWRs,
the localization length is typically 50 nm and the QWR behaves as a collection
of quantum boxes. These localization properties are compared to structural
properties and related to the progresses of the growth techniques. The presence
of residual disorder is evidenced in the best samples and explained by the
separation of electrons and holes due to the large in-built piezo-electric
field present in the structure.
