ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the physics of coupled dots in order to correctly interpret experimental data and to possibly improve the performance of devices based on stacked systems. It discusses the nature of the electronic coupling between stacked InAs/GaAs double-dot systems by considering separately all the effects that may contribute to level splitting. The chapter presents a stacked InAs/GaAs double-dot system and calculates level splitting as a function of dot distance. The energy quantization in quantum dots results from the three-dimensional confinement characteristic of such systems. The presence of the shear strains in the InAs/GaAs interfaces leads to the appearance of a polarization charge and its associated piezoelectric potential, which reduces the symmetry of the system, lifting some of the degeneracies present in unstrained pyramidal quantum-dot systems.
