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Towards deterministically controlled InGaAs/GaAs lateral quantum dot molecules
2008, Wang, L., Rastelli, A., Kiravittaya, S., Atkinson, P., Ding, F., Bof Bufon, C.C., Hermannstädter, C., Witzany, M., Beirne, G.J., Michler, P., Schmidt, O.G.
We report on the fabrication, detailed characterization and modeling of lateral InGaAs quantum dot molecules (QDMs) embedded in a GaAs matrix and we discuss strategies to fully control their spatial configuration and electronic properties. The three-dimensional morphology of encapsulated QDMs was revealed by selective wet chemical etching of the GaAs top capping layer and subsequent imaging by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM investigation showed that different overgrowth procedures have a profound consequence on the QDM height and shape. QDMs partially capped and annealed in situ for micro- photoluminescence spectroscopy consist of shallow but well-defined quantum dots (QDs) in contrast to misleading results usually provided by surface morphology measurements when they are buried by a thin GaAs layer. This uncapping approach is crucial for determining the QDM structural parameters, which are required for modeling the system. A single-band effective-mass approximation is employed to calculate the confined electron and heavy-hole energy levels, taking the geometry and structural information extracted from the uncapping experiments as inputs. The calculated transition energy of the single QDM shows good agreement with the experimentally observed values. By decreasing the edge-to-edge distance between the two QDs within a QDM, a splitting of the electron (hole) wavefunction into symmetric and antisymmetric states is observed, indicating the presence of lateral coupling. Site control of such lateral QDMs obtained by growth on a pre-patterned substrate, combined with a technology to fabricate gate structures at well-defined positions with respect to the QDMs, could lead to deterministically controlled devices based on QDMs. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
Epitaxial growth and stress relaxation of vapor-deposited Fe-Pd magnetic shape memory films
2009, Kühnemund, L., Edler, T., Kock, I., Seibt, M., Mayr, S.G.
To achieve maximum performance in microscale magnetic shape memory actuation devices epitaxial films several hundred nanometers thick are needed. Epitaxial films were grown on hot MgO substrates (500 °C and above) by e-beam evaporation. Structural properties and stress relaxation mechanisms were investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, in situ substrate curvature measurements and classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The high misfit stress incorporated during Vollmer-Weber growth at the beginning was relaxed by partial or perfect dislocations depending on the substrate temperature. This relaxation allowed the avoidance of a stressinduced breakdown of epitaxy and no thickness limit for epitaxy was found. For substrate temperatures of 690 °C or above, the films grew in the fee austenite phase. Below this temperature, iron precipitates were formed. MD simulations showed how these precipitates influence the movements of partial dislocations, and can thereby explain the higher stress level observed in the experiments in the initial stage of growth for these films. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.