Probing strain in bent semiconductor nanowires with Raman spectroscopy.

We present a noninvasive optical method to determine the local strain in individual semiconductor nanowires. InP nanowires were intentionally bent with an atomic force microscope and variations in the optical phonon frequency along the wires were mapped using Raman spectroscopy. Sections of the nanowires with a high curvature showed significantly broadened phonon lines. These observations together with deformation potential theory show that compressive and tensile strain inside the nanowires is the physical origin of the observed phonon energy variations.