Growth and structural characterization of pyramidal site-controlled quantum dots with high uniformity and spectral purity

This work presents some fundamental features of pyramidal site-controlled InGaAs Quantum Dots (QDs) grown by MetalOrganic Vapour Phase Epitaxy on patterned GaAs (111)B substrate. The dots self-form inside pyramidal recesses patterned on the wafer via pre-growth processing. The major advantage of this growth technique is the control it provides over the dot nucleation posi-tion and the dimensions of the confined structures onto the sub-strate. The fundamental steps of substrate patterning and the QD forma-tion mechanism are described together with a discussion of the structural particulars. The post-growth processes, including sur-face etching and substrate removal, which are required to facili-tate optical characterization, are discussed. With this approach extremely high uniformity and record spectral purity are both achieved.