The disintegration of GaSb/GaAs nanostructures upon capping

Atom probetomography and cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy show that GaSb/GaAs quantum dots disintegrate into ring-like clusters of islands upon capping. Band transition energies calculated using an 8-band k.p model of the capped dots with the observed dimensions are consistent with emission energies observed in photoluminescence data. These results emphasize the need for full three-dimensional characterization to develop an accurate understanding of the structure, and thus the optical properties, of buried quantum dots.