Matrix effects on the structural and optical properties of InAs quantum dots

InAs quantum dots (QDs) have been grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on different InGaAs or GaAs surface layers to investigate the effect of the matrix on the structural and optical properties of the QDs. The density of QDs directly grown on GaAs is 1.1x10(10) cm(-2), and increases to 2.3x10(10) cm(-2) for dots grown on a 1 nm InGaAs layer. Single-mirror light-emitting-diode (SMLED) structures with InAs QDs capped by InGaAs and grown on GaAs and InGaAs layers were fabricated to compare the electroluminescence efficiency between the two structures. The maximum external quantum efficiency for QDs on a GaAs structure is 1.1% while that for QDs on InGaAs is 1.3%. The corresponding radiative efficiency could be deduced to be 17.5% for QDs on GaAs and 21.5% for QDs on InGaAs, respectively. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.