The Control on Size and Density of InAs QDs by Droplet Epitaxy (April 2009)

We report on the ability to grow InAs quantum dots (QDs) by droplet epitaxy (DE) using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). In particular, the control of the size and density of InAs QDs at near room temperatures are achieved as a function of substrate temperature and crystallization condition. For a typical range of QD density ( ~10⁹ to 10¹⁰ cm^-2), the growth window is revealed to be fairly narrow ( ~20degC). In droplets are extremely sensitive to surface diffusion and arsenic background pressure even at near room temperatures. As a result, a very careful fabrication procedure is required to crystallize In droplets in order to fabricate desired shape of InAs QDs. For this purpose, we developed a double-step crystallization process, in which As background recovery and high-temperature crystallization are introduced. In addition, the results by DE are compared with QDs fabricated by Stranski-Krastanow (S-K) growth approach in terms of size and density. The results can find applications in optoelectronics as the fabrication of QDs by DE approach has more flexibility over S-K approach, i.e., more freedom of size and density control.