In-Situ Pulsed Laser Interference Nanostructuring of Semiconductor Surfaces

We report the fabrication of periodic one- and two-dimensional nanostructures on semiconductor surfaces utilizing in-situ single-pulse direct laser interference patterning during molecular beam epitaxial growth. A Nd:YAG laser operating at 355 nm wavelength with a pulse duration of 7 ns is used to produce periodic gratings or nanoislands with a submicron periodicity on the growing InAs/GaAs surfaces. By means of four-beam interference patterning, ordered square arrays of quantum dots with a lattice pitch of 200-300 nm are obtained. This in-situ technique offers a new way to control the quantum dot nucleation sites and it constitutes a technological advance to realize periodic III-V semiconductor nanostructures with impact in optoelectronics and quantum information processing