In a stack of vertically aligned Stranski-Krastanov grown islands, the critical thickness for planar growth for all but the initial dot layer is reduced, if the thickness of the spacer layer t(s) is smaller than a certain value t(0). We present structural and photoluminescence results on the basis of the extensively studied lattice-mismatched material system Si/Ge. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)04409-5].