Selective growth of self-organizing InAs quantum dots on strained InGaAs surfaces

InAs quantum dots were grown on strained InGaAs/GaAs(001) layers by molecular beam epitaxy. The existence of the surface residual strain of the InGaAs layer was confirmed by the measurement of a critical thickness of the InAs layer grown on the strained InGaAs layer. The selective alignment of InAs dots was observed along the [110] direction on the strained InGaAs surface. This phenomenon was explained by the strain distribution of the InGaAs surface, which was induced by anisotropic misfit dislocations generated at the InGaAs/GaAs heterointerface. Uniformity in dot size depended on the width of the selective growth area. Therefore, it was found that the arrangement and the ordering of InAs dots can be controlled by the surface strain of the underlying InGaAs layer. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.