Influence of composition on the piezoelectric effect and on the conduction band energy levels of InxGa1-xAs/GaAs quantum dots

We address fundamental issues relating to the symmetry of the shape and the nonuniform composition of InGaAs quantum dot islands. Using atomistic simulations in the framework of the Tersoff empirical potential, we study the effect of compositional gradients in the In distribution on the piezoelectric effect in quantum dots. We demonstrate that the internal piezoelectric fields contribute strongly to the experimentally observed optical anisotropies. This is confirmed by accurate high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis over hundreds of islands grown in different conditions that reveals the absence of structural anisotropy under our growth conditions. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.