Self-Assembled GaN Quantum Dots Grown by Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

It is shown that under specific growth conditions the strain relaxation of GaN deposited on AlN obeys the Stranski-Krastanov mechanism. As a consequence, it is demonstrated that, for both cubic and hexagonal phases, the growth of self-organized three-dimensional islands can be achieved. These islands behave as quantum dots, exhibiting optical properties dominated by localization effects.