Site-controlled quantum dots grown in inverted pyramids for photonic crystal applications

We report on the growth and optical properties of various configurations of sub-micron pitch dense arrays of pyramidal quantum dots (QDs) grown by organometallic chemical vapour deposition on patterned substrates. We show that the effective growth rate of these QDs is influenced by the ratio between the free {1 1 1}B area and {1 1 1}A exposed facets surrounding them. This provides a powerful technique for engineering the energy level structure of ordered QD arrays by means of geometrical patterning of the growth template. Such technique should be particularly useful for applications in photonic crystals incorporating QDs with tailored absorption and/or emission properties.