Molecular beam epitaxial growth of InAs quantum dots directly on silicon

InAs quantum dots (QD) embedded in a silicon matrix show a photoluminescence line at a wavelength of about 1.3 mu m [Semicond. Sci. Technol. 13 (1998) 1262]. This wavelength range is very interesting for the integration of classical silicon technology with optical fiber applications for chip-to-chip or intra-chip communication. To get InAs QDs of reproducible size and shape the growth conditions for the formation of quantum dots have to be optimized. Here; we report on detailed investigations on the molecular beam epitaxial growth of InAs QDs on silicon and their embedding in a silicon matrix. A variety of surface analytical techniques have been used, including in-situ electron diffraction (RHEED), in-situ photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ex-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM).