Using plan-view and cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy, the shape and composition of InAs/GaAs quantum dots are investigated before and after capping by GaAs. During capping, the original pyramidally shaped quantum dots become truncated, resulting in a flat (001) top facet and steeper side facets. The InAs quantum dots are found to be intermixed at their top with GaAs due to material rearrangement. Since the bottom interface of quantum dots and wetting layer is always sharp, this intermixing occurs during capping and not during quantum dot growth. Considering strain energies, a model for the capping is presented

We present cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy results of self-organized In0.8Ga0.2As quantum dots covered by an In0.1Ga0.9As film inside a GaAs matrix prepared by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. From images of quantum dots with atomic resolution, we determine a spatial distribution of the In composition within the dots with a shape of a reversed truncated cone. The wetting layer and the overgrown In0.1Ga0.9As layer show vertical intermixing.

In this paper we study error-correcting codes for the storage of data in synthetic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). We investigate a storage model where a data set is represented by an unordered set of M sequences, each of length L. Errors within that model are a loss of whole sequences and point errors inside the sequences, such as insertions, deletions and substitutions. We derive Gilbert-Varshamov lower bounds and sphere packing upper bounds on achievable cardinalities of error-correcting codes within this storage model. We further propose explicit code constructions than can correct errors in such a storage system that can be encoded and decoded efficiently. Comparing the sizes of these codes to the upper bounds, we show that many of the constructions are close to optimal.Index Terms-coding over sets, DNA data storage, Gilbert-Varshamov bound, insertion and deletion errors, sphere packing bound

Ring-shaped GaSb/GaAs quantum dots, grown by molecular beam epitaxy, were studied using cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy. These quantum rings have an outer shape of a truncated pyramid with baselengths around 15 nm and heights of about 2 nm but are characterized by a clear central opening extending over about 40% of the outer baselength. They form spontaneously during the growth and subsequent continuous capping of GaSb/GaAs quantum dots due to the large strain and substantial As-for-Sb exchange reactions leading to strong Sb segregation.

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