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Kinetically driven selective growth of InAs quantum dots on GaAs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2013

Fabrizio Arciprete*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata,” Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy
Ernesto Placidi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata,” Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto di Struttura della materia, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Roma, Italy
Rita Magri
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, and Centro S3 CNR-Istituto, Nanoscienze, Via Campi 213/A, 4100 Modena, Italy
Davide Del Gaudio
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata,” Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy
Fulvia Patella
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata,” Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

We show that, by changing and tuning the direction of the As flux on a rippled substrate, at temperatures higher than 530 °C and high As/In flux ratio, a selective growth of InAs dots can be obtained on GaAs. This is an undisclosed effect related to the Arsenic flux in the molecular beam epitaxial growth of InAs quantum dots (QDs) on GaAs(001). This effect cannot be explained by a shadowing effect, due to the gentle slopes of the mounds (1–3°), and reveals instead that As plays a fundamental role at these growth conditions. We have developed a kinetic model, which takes into account the coupling between cations and anions, and found that the very small surface gradient in the anion flux, due to the oblique evaporation on the mounded surface, is responsible for a massive drain of cations toward the surface anion-rich areas, thus generating the selective growth of QDs.

Type
Invited Feature Paper
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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Footnotes

b)

Present address: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2136.

This paper has been selected as an Invited Feature Paper.

References

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