Study of in situ laser modification of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We have investigated the modification of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) by in situ pulsed laser irradiation. The QDs were fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) in Stranski-Krastanov mode at 480 degrees C and then at the same temperature the pulsed laser was in situ introduced to modify the QDs with different energy. The dependence of morphology evolution on irradiation energy was carefully studied by AFM testing. The results show that laser excitation can enable both desorption and diffusion of In atoms which may induce strong modification on the InAs QDs. For irradiation of a moderate energy, the 3D dot-like InAs QD will transform into 2D oval-shaped island; Once the irradiation energy is high enough, the InAs QDs will be completely removed off from the surface. The involved mechanism is also discussed. Herein, we have proposed a new approach of fabricating QDs which is high-efficient, pollution-free, oxidation-free and defect-resistant and it is believed in the near future, it may find wide applications in both the fundamental physics research and emerging device manufacture.