InAs/GaAs(0 0 1) wetting layer formation observed in situ by concurrent MBE and STM

The growth of InAs on GaAs(0 0 1) has attracted great interest and investigation over the past few decades primarily due to the opto-electronic properties of the self-assembled quantum dot (QD) arrays formed. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) has been extensively employed to investigate the complicated and spontaneous mechanism of QD growth via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). In order to access surface dynamics, MBE and STM must be performed concurrently. The system herein combines MBE functionality into an STM instrument in order to investigate wetting layer formation dynamically. The GaAs(0 0 1)-(2 × 4) starting surface undergoes 2D island growth, reconstruction change-induced roughness and re-entrant 3D island formation prior to the Stranski–Krastanow transition point.