Dedicated fabrication of silicon-based ensembles of dot molecules with a specific and unique number of dots

We have performed a two-step liquid phase epitaxy yielding ensembles of SiGe/Si(001) dot molecules with a specific and unique number of dots. An undersaturation of the initial bismuth solution causes strain-induced pits in the epitaxial Si0.985Ge0.015 layer which are effectively preserved during subsequent Si0.68Ge0.32 dot growth at considerably lower temperatures. Since the latter process happens extremely close to thermodynamic equilibrium, we are able to interrupt it after the formation of ensembles of dimers, trimers or quadruplets, respectively. The crosslike ensemble symmetry is discussed in terms of strain energy distribution as revealed by finite element calculations.