Buried-stressor technology for the epitaxial growth and device integration of site-controlled quantum dots

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are high-quality nanocrystals that provide three-dimensional carrier confinement on the scale of the de Broglie wavelength. This makes them ideal candidates as light emitters, especially in the emerging field of photonic quantum technologies, where they can act as qu...

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Main Authors: Kartik Gaur, Priyabrata Mudi, Petr Klenovsky, Stephan Reitzenstein
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:Materials for Quantum Technology
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/2633-4356/add3ad
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author Kartik Gaur
Priyabrata Mudi
Petr Klenovsky
Stephan Reitzenstein
author_facet Kartik Gaur
Priyabrata Mudi
Petr Klenovsky
Stephan Reitzenstein
author_sort Kartik Gaur
collection DOAJ
description Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are high-quality nanocrystals that provide three-dimensional carrier confinement on the scale of the de Broglie wavelength. This makes them ideal candidates as light emitters, especially in the emerging field of photonic quantum technologies, where they can act as quantum light sources. However, their self-assembled epitaxial growth leads to randomness in position and emission wavelength, which hinders their scalable integration into photonic quantum devices. This review summarizes and highlights advances in the site-controlled growth of high-quality epitaxial QDs, with a particular focus on the buried stressor concept. Compared to other QD positioning techniques based for instance on nanohole arrays, nanowire arrays, and arrays of inverted pyramids as dot nucleation centers, the buried stressor growth method is distinguished by its ability to achieve not only spatial accuracy and precision, but also control of the local QD density in combination in an industry-compatible process flow. Therefore, the buried stressor growth technique is highly suitable for the development of both QD-based quantum light sources and microlasers. The buried stressor site-controlled QD growth technique involves the sub-surface embedding of a nano-engineered stressor material, which generates localized strain fields at the growth surface that control the nucleation of QDs. We provide an in-depth review of the underlying mechanisms and technological implementations, and discuss the differences and comparative advantages of the buried stressor method over other techniques for site-controlled growth of QDs. We also address persistent challenges, such as scalability and integration with existing semiconductor technologies, and outline potential future research directions.
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spelling doaj-art-8f008f0f70eb4b89bd01005f1950da902025-08-20T01:50:11ZengIOP PublishingMaterials for Quantum Technology2633-43562025-01-015202200210.1088/2633-4356/add3adBuried-stressor technology for the epitaxial growth and device integration of site-controlled quantum dotsKartik Gaur0https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1580-135XPriyabrata Mudi1https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3806-2047Petr Klenovsky2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1914-164XStephan Reitzenstein3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1381-9838Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Technische Universität Berlin , Hardenbergstraße 36, D-10623 Berlin, GermanyInstitut für Physik und Astronomie, Technische Universität Berlin , Hardenbergstraße 36, D-10623 Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Condensed Matter Physics, Masaryk University , Kotlářská 267/2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic; Czech Metrology Institute , Okružní 31, 63800 Brno, Czech RepublicInstitut für Physik und Astronomie, Technische Universität Berlin , Hardenbergstraße 36, D-10623 Berlin, GermanySemiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are high-quality nanocrystals that provide three-dimensional carrier confinement on the scale of the de Broglie wavelength. This makes them ideal candidates as light emitters, especially in the emerging field of photonic quantum technologies, where they can act as quantum light sources. However, their self-assembled epitaxial growth leads to randomness in position and emission wavelength, which hinders their scalable integration into photonic quantum devices. This review summarizes and highlights advances in the site-controlled growth of high-quality epitaxial QDs, with a particular focus on the buried stressor concept. Compared to other QD positioning techniques based for instance on nanohole arrays, nanowire arrays, and arrays of inverted pyramids as dot nucleation centers, the buried stressor growth method is distinguished by its ability to achieve not only spatial accuracy and precision, but also control of the local QD density in combination in an industry-compatible process flow. Therefore, the buried stressor growth technique is highly suitable for the development of both QD-based quantum light sources and microlasers. The buried stressor site-controlled QD growth technique involves the sub-surface embedding of a nano-engineered stressor material, which generates localized strain fields at the growth surface that control the nucleation of QDs. We provide an in-depth review of the underlying mechanisms and technological implementations, and discuss the differences and comparative advantages of the buried stressor method over other techniques for site-controlled growth of QDs. We also address persistent challenges, such as scalability and integration with existing semiconductor technologies, and outline potential future research directions.https://doi.org/10.1088/2633-4356/add3adquantum dotsite controlpositioningepitaxial growthburied stressorquantum light sources
spellingShingle Kartik Gaur
Priyabrata Mudi
Petr Klenovsky
Stephan Reitzenstein
Buried-stressor technology for the epitaxial growth and device integration of site-controlled quantum dots
Materials for Quantum Technology
quantum dot
site control
positioning
epitaxial growth
buried stressor
quantum light sources
title Buried-stressor technology for the epitaxial growth and device integration of site-controlled quantum dots
title_full Buried-stressor technology for the epitaxial growth and device integration of site-controlled quantum dots
title_fullStr Buried-stressor technology for the epitaxial growth and device integration of site-controlled quantum dots
title_full_unstemmed Buried-stressor technology for the epitaxial growth and device integration of site-controlled quantum dots
title_short Buried-stressor technology for the epitaxial growth and device integration of site-controlled quantum dots
title_sort buried stressor technology for the epitaxial growth and device integration of site controlled quantum dots
topic quantum dot
site control
positioning
epitaxial growth
buried stressor
quantum light sources
url https://doi.org/10.1088/2633-4356/add3ad
work_keys_str_mv AT kartikgaur buriedstressortechnologyfortheepitaxialgrowthanddeviceintegrationofsitecontrolledquantumdots
AT priyabratamudi buriedstressortechnologyfortheepitaxialgrowthanddeviceintegrationofsitecontrolledquantumdots
AT petrklenovsky buriedstressortechnologyfortheepitaxialgrowthanddeviceintegrationofsitecontrolledquantumdots
AT stephanreitzenstein buriedstressortechnologyfortheepitaxialgrowthanddeviceintegrationofsitecontrolledquantumdots