Enhanced light emission in semiconductor nanowire arrays

We use rigorous transfer-matrix method to investigate light emission from dipole sources embedded in nanowire arrays. The dependence of the emission spectra on the structural parameters of the nanowire arrays is described and the parameters to realize high emission are obtained. Numerical simulations show that output power is significantly enhanced with a frequency greater than guided resonance frequency of nanowire arrays. The enhanced power could be 5–30 larger than that from planar structures. We also find that the enhanced emission mostly comes from the region close to the surface of nanowires. It is possible to realize higher output power by manipulating dipoles in the nanowire. All these qualities make nanowire arrays a novel candidate for designing high performance light-emitting devices.