Spatial Control of Multiphoton Electron Excitations in InAs Nanowires by Varying Crystal Phase and Light Polarization

We demonstrate the control of multiphoton electron excitations in InAs nanowires (NWs) by altering the crystal structure and the light polarization. Using few-cycle, near-infrared laser pulses from an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification system, we induce multiphoton electron excitations in InAs nanowires with controlled wurtzite (WZ) and zincblende (ZB) segments. With a photoemission electron microscope, we show that we can selectively induce multiphoton electron emission from WZ or ZB segments of the same wire by varying the light polarization. Developing ab initio GW calculations of first to third order multiphoton excitations and using finite-difference time-domain simulations, we explain the experimental findings: While the electric-field enhancement due to the semiconductor/vacuum interface has a similar effect for all NW segments, the second and third order multiphoton transitions in the band structure of WZ InAs are highly anisotropic in contrast to ZB InAs. As the crystal phase of NWs can be precisely and reliably tailored, our findings open up for new semiconductor optoelectronics with controllable nanoscale emission of electrons through vacuum or dielectric barriers.