Ordered quantum dot molecules and single quantum dots formed by self-organized anisotropic strain engineering

An ordered lattice of lateral InAs quantum dot (QD) molecules is created by self-organized anisotropic strain engineering of an (In,Ga)As/GaAs superlattice (SL) template on GaAs(311)B by molecular-beam epitaxy, constituting a Turing pattern in solid state. The SL template and InAs QD growth conditions, such as the number of SL periods, growth temperatures, amount and composition of deposited (In,Ga)As, and insertion of Al-containing layers, are studied in detail for an optimized QD ordering within and among the InAs QD molecules on the SL template nodes, which is evaluated by atomic force microscopy. The average number of InAs QDs within the molecules is controlled by the thickness of the upper GaAs separation layer on the SL template and the (In,Ga)As growth temperature in the SL. The strain-correlated growth in SL template formation and QD ordering is directly confirmed by high-resolution x-ray diffraction. Ordered arrays of single InAs QDs on the SL template nodes are realized for elevated SL template and InAs QD growth temperatures together with the insertion of a second InAs QD layer. The InAs QD molecules exhibit strong photoluminescence (PL) emission up to room temperature. Temperature-dependent PL measurements exhibit an unusual behavior of the full width at half maximum, indicating carrier redistribution solely within the QD molecules. ©2005 American Institute of Physic