Universal Behavior of Atomistic Strain in Self-Assembled Quantum Dots

Self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) are highly strained heterostructures. The lattice strain significantly modifies the electronic and optical properties of these devices. A universal behavior is observed in atomistic strain simulations (in terms of both strain magnitude and profile) of QDs with different shapes and materials. In this paper, this universal behavior is investigated by atomistic as well as analytic continuum models. Atomistic strain simulations are very accurate but computationally expensive. On the other hand, analytic continuum solutions are based on assumptions that significantly reduce the accuracy of the strain calculations, but are very fast. Both techniques indicate that the strain depends on the aspect ratio (AR) of the QDs, and not on the individual dimensions. Thus, simple closed-form equations are introduced which directly provide the atomistic strain values inside the QD as a function of the AR and the material parameters. Moreover, the conduction and valence band edges E C/V and their effective masses m* C/V of the QDs are dictated by the strain and AR consequently. The universal dependence of atomistic strain on the AR is useful in many ways. Not only does it reduce the computational cost of atomistic simulations significantly, but it also provides information about the optical transitions of QDs given the knowledge of E C/V and m* C/V from AR. Finally, these expressions are used to calculate optical transition wavelengths in InAs/GaAs QDs, and the results agree well with the experimental measurements and atomistic simulations.