Two-dimensional ordering of self-assembled In_xGa_1-xAs quantum dots grown on GaAs(3 1 1)B surfaces

Two-dimensional (2D) ordering of self-assembled In_xGa_1-xAs quantum dots (QDs) fabricated on GaAs(3 1 1)B surface by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are reported. The QDs are aligned into rows deferring from the direction of the misorientation of the substrate, and strongly dependent on the mole In content x of In_xGa_1-xAs solid solution. The ordering alignment deteriorates significantly as the In content is increased to above 0.5. The 2D ordering can be described as a centered rectangular unit mesh with the two sides parallel to [0 1 1̄] and [2̄ 3 3], respectively. Their relative arrangement seems to be determined by a combination of the strongly repulsive elastic interaction between neighbouring islands and the minimization of the strain energy of the whole system. The ordering also helps to improve the size homogeneity of the InGaAs islands. Photoluminescence (PL) result demonstrates that QDs grown on (3 1 1)B have the narrowest linewidth and the strongest integrated intensity, compared to those grown on (1 0 0) and other high-index planes under the same condition.