Photoluminescence study of high-quality InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots on (111)B GaAs substrates

Abstract

We present a simple in situ method to fabricate high-quality InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots on (111)B GaAs substrates. The mechanism of the quantum dot formation is not strain relaxation but the growth characteristic of (111)B GaAs under low substrate temperatures. When the growth is performed at low temperatures, the layer-by-layer growth mode is replaced by island growth and therefore quantum dots are formed. The formation of the quantum dots was verified by atomic force microscope (AFM) images and the shift of photoluminescence (PL). The PL emission from the quantum dots was very strong and the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the emission peak was as small as 7.7 meV, indicating excellent quality and very uniform dot formation. The effect of nominal thickness on the quantum dot formation has been investigated.