Electronic and mechanical coupling in bent ZnO nanowires

A red shift of the exciton of ZnO nanowires is efficiently produced by bending strain, as demonstrated by a lowtemperature (81 K) cathodoluminescence (CL) study of ZnO nanowires bent into L- or S-shapes. The figure shows a nanowire (Fig. a) with the positions of CL measurements marked. The corresponding CL spectra - revealing a peak shift and broadening in the region of the bend - are shown in Figure b. (Figure Presented).