Effect of surface gallium termination on the formation and emission energy of an InGaAs wetting layer during the growth of InGaAs quantum dots by droplet epitaxy.

Self-assembled quantum dots based on III-V semiconductors have excellent properties for applications in quantum optics. However, the presence of a 2D wetting layer which forms during the Stranski-Krastanov growth of quantum dots can limit their performance. Here, we investigate wetting layer formation during quantum dot growth by the droplet epitaxy technique. We use a combination of photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy, lifetime measurements, and transmission electron microscopy to identify the presence of an InGaAs wetting layer in these droplet epitaxy quantum dots, even in the absence of distinguishable wetting layer luminescence. We observe that increasing the amount of Ga deposited on a GaAs (100) surface prior to the growth of InGaAs quantum dots leads to a significant reduction in the emission wavelength of the wetting layer to the point where it can no longer be distinguished from the GaAs acceptor peak emission in photoluminescence measurements. However increasing the amount of Ga deposited does not suppress the formation of a wetting layer under the growth conditions used here.