InAs quantum dots were grown on In0.15Ga0.85As strained layers by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (001) substrates. Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy study had indicated that In0.15Ga0.85As ridges and InAs quantum dots formed at the inclined upside of interface misfit dislocations. By testifying the misfit dislocations were mixed 60° dislocations and calculating the surface stress over them when they were 12 to 180nm below the surface, it was found the quantum dots prefer nucleating on the side with tensile stress of the misfit dislocations and this explained why the ordering of quantum dots was weak when the InGaAs layer was relatively thick.

Influence of Dislocation Stress Field on Distribution of Quantum Dots. C.Zhang, L.Tang, Y.Wang, Z.Wang, B.Xu: Physica E, 2006, 33[1], 130-3