Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
We present a theoretical model for calculation of stress distributions in semiconductor nanostructures such as lattice-mismatched InGaAs/GaAs quantum well wires and dots. The model is based on a linear elastic deformation approximation, and assumes dislocation-free interfaces with an additional condition of continuous interatomic distance on the interfaces. The distributions of stress tensor components and the resulting effective potentials for electronhole pairs are calculated. The comparison of our model with the experimental data on the exciton spectra in free standing strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum well wires is also presented.