Computer simulations of the Stranski–Krastanov growth of heteroepitaxial films with elastic anisotropy

A three-dimensional finite element method is developed to simulate the surface morphological evolution during the Stranski–Krastanov heteroepitaxial growth. In the formulation, the surface evolves through surface diffusion driven by the gradient of the surface chemical potential, which includes the elastic strain energy, elastic anisotropy and surface energy. Surface condensation rate is assumed to depend on the difference between the surface chemical potential and the chemical potential of the vapor phase. Our simulations reveal that the self-assembly of quantum dots are strongly dependent on the variation of growth rate and elastic anisotropy strength. With appropriate choice of growth rate and elastic anisotropy strength, a relatively more uniform and regular quantum dot array can be obtained.