ABSTRACT
Thermal stability of stacked self-assembled InP quantum dots (QDs) is studied by quantitative high-resolution electron microscopy (QHREM). The size and the shape of the QDs as well as local lattice distortions on an atomic scale have been determined directly from HREM images by the image processing package LADIA. An anisotropic thermal instability of the vertically stacked QDs is revealed. The preferential direction of intermixing of InP QDs with their surrounding GalnP changes at different stages of annealing. This anisotropy is attributed to strain-assisted interdiffusion.
