Nanometer-scale studies of vertical organization and evolution of stacked self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Abstract

The vertical organization and evolution of 1-, 5-, 10-, and 20-layer stacks of molecular beam epitaxially grown self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots were investigated using high resolution and large-scale cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy. The evolution of the dot sizes and shapes was reported, including the assembly of vertically organized columns of stacked dots. As the number of dot layers within a stack is increased, the average spacing between vertically organized column decreases, and the corresponding dots become more uniform in size.