The effect of strain on tuning of light emission energy of InAs/InGaAs quantum-dot nanostructures

We prepared by molecular-beam epitaxy and studied structures of InAs quantum dots embedded in InxGa1-xAs confining layers. The structures were designed so that the strain of quantum dots could be controlled independently of In composition of confining layers. In such a way, we single out the effect of strain in quantum dots on the energy of photoluminescence emission. We show that strain can be effectively used to tune the emission energy of quantum dots, and that room-temperature emission at 1.3 mum can be obtained. Our results suggest that by quantum-dot strain engineering, it will be possible to extend emission wavelength beyond 1.55 mum. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.