Polar optical phonons in core–shell semiconductor nanowires

We obtain the long-wavelength polar optical vibrational modes of semiconductor core–shell nanowires by means of a phenomenological continuum model. A basis for the space of solutions is derived, and by applying the appropriate boundary conditions, the transcendental equations for the coupled and uncoupled modes are attained. Our results are applied to the study of the GaAs–GaP core–shell nanowire, for which we calculate numerically the polar optical modes, analyzing the role of strain in the vibrational properties of this nanosystem.