Kinetically enhanced correlation and anticorrelation effects in self-organized quantum dot stacks

We present kinetic Monte Carlo simulations explaining the correlation and anticorrelation effects observed in the self-organized growth of stacks of semiconductor quantum dots. Our simulations clarify the delicate interplay of kinetics and thermodynamics in strained heteroepitaxial semiconductor systems, and predict a sharp transition between correlated and anticorrelated growth as a function of the buffer thickness between the quantum dot layers. The vital role of the kinetically controlled and strain-mediated island size distributions is pointed out.