Development of cross-hatch grid morphology and its effect on ordering growth of quantum dots

We investigate the development of cross-hatch grid surface morphology in growing mismatched layers and its effect on ordering growth of quantum dots (QDs). For a 60degrees dislocation (MD), the effective part in strain relaxation is the part with the Burgers vector parallel to the film/substrate interface within its b(edge) component; so the surface stress over a MD is asymmetric. When the strained layer is relatively thin, the surface morphology is cross-hatch grid with asymmetric ridges and valleys. When the strained layer is relatively thick, the ridges become nearly symmetrical, and the dislocations and the ridges inclined-aligned. In the following growth of InAs, QDs prefer to nucleate on top of the ridges. By selecting ultra-thin In0.15Ga0.85As layer (50nm) and controlling the QDs layer at just formed QDs, we obtained ordered InAs QDs. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.