Optical communication systems benefit a lot from APDs due to their increased photocurrent gain as compared to conventional photodetectors. An avalanche region in a high bandgap material is especially useful to avoid the tunneling leakage currents in smaller bandgap materials needed for absorption at 1.3/1.55 µm wavelengths. Self-assembled III-V semiconductor nanowires have a key advantage owing to the enhanced absorption due to optical resonance effects and the strain relaxation in NWs, thus facilitating monolithic integration of different heterostructures on cheaper substrates. Here, we present electrical and optical results from large ensembles of InP/InAsP NWs, axially grown on p+ InP substrates. The NW base consists of an InP p-n junction acting as the avalanche region followed by an InP/InAsP absorption region, and ending with a top InP n+-segment. The 130nm diameter NW arrays are contacted in a vertical geometry using SiO2 as the insulating layer and ITO as the top contact. The n-doping in the avalanche region is varied to study it’s influence on the avalanche mechanism. Also the bandgap in the absorption region is varied from pure InP to smaller bandgap InAsP by varying the As content. Clear interband signals from different crystal phases of InP/InAsP are observed in photocurrent spectroscopy. Moreover, the photocurrent spectra are consistent with spatially resolved photoluminescence signals. We also report on polarization and angle dependent photocurrent response of the NW array.