Molecular beam epitaxial growth of InAs quantum dots directly on silicon

InAs quantum dots (QD) embedded in a silicon matrix show a photoluminescence line at a wavelength of about 1.3 μm. This wavelength range is very interesting for the integration of classical silicon technology with optical fiber applications for chip-to-chip or intra-chip communication. To get InAs QDs of reproducible size and shape the growth conditions for the formation of quantum dots have to be optimized. Here, we report on detailed investigations on the molecular beam epitaxial growth of InAs QDs on silicon and their embedding in a silicon matrix. A variety of surface analytical techniques have been used, including in-situ electron diffraction (RHEED), in-situ photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ex-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM).