Islands of InAs were fabricated at various temperatures by molecular beam epitaxial Stranski¯Krastanov growth, and were studied using atomic force microscopy. It was found that the island size increased, and island density decreased, with increasing temperature. The change was caused by an increase in the migration length of In adatoms with the increasing temperature. The Arrhenius plot of the island density was essentially linear; in agreement with previous work. An expression for the island density was derived on the assumption that the density saturated under a constant In flux, and that In atoms did not detach themselves from the islands. By using this expression, the activation energy for the migration of an In adatom was estimated to be 4.0eV.

Adatom Migration in Stranski-Krastanov Growth of InAs Quantum Dots. K.Shiramine, T.Itoh, S.Muto, T.Kozaki, S.Sato: Journal of Crystal Growth, 2002, 242[3-4], 332-8