Molecular beam epitaxy based growth of cubic GaN quantum dots

Zinc‐blende GaN/AlN quantum dots were grown in a molecular beam epitaxy system by two alternative methods. In method A the quantum dots were formed by the Stranski‐Krastanov process, whereas in method B the quantum dots were created by a vapor‐liquid‐solid process, respectively. The density of the Stranski‐Krastanov quantum dots was adjustable in a range of 5 x 109 cm‐2 to 5 x 1012 cm‐2. The density of the quantum dots grown by method B was controllable in the range of 5 x 108 cm‐2 to 5 x 1012 cm‐2. For both methods the samples with a high density of quantum dots have shown strong optical activity in photoluminescence spectroscopy. The emission energy of the quantum dots was tuneable in a range of 3.5 eV to 3.9 eV by alteration of the quantum dot height. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)