A RHEED study of the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth in the InAs/GaAs system

A specially developed detection system and an analysis of RHEED diffraction patterns were used to investigate the dynamics of transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth mechanism in the heteroepitaxial InAs/GaAs system. An analysis of the dynamics of the diffraction patterns was used for the first time to investigate the dynamics of formation of quantum dots. A time shift in the dynamic behavior of the diffracted intensity for diffraction patterns recorded at different angles was found. This shift is explained in terms of the size differences in the three-dimensional islands at the initial stage of decay of the pseudomorphic layer. InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown under certain conditions produce reflections at 45° relative to the principal reflections. This is evidence for the ordering of islands in the [001] and [010] crystallographic directions.