The effect of strain on the valence-band structure of (1122) semipolar InGaN grown on GaN substrates is studied. A k·p analysis reveals that anisotropic strain in the c-plane and shear strain are crucial for deciding the ordering of the two topmost valence bands. The shear-strain deformation potential D6 is calculated for GaN and InN using density functional theory with the Heyd-ScuseriaErnzerhof hybrid functional [J. Heyd, et al., J. Chem. Phys. 124, 219906 (2006)]. Using our deformation potentials and assuming pseudomorphically strained structure, no polarization switching is observed. We investigate the role of partial strain relaxation in the observed polarization switching.PACS numbers: 71.20. Nr, 71.70.Fk, 85.60.Bt Indium Gallium Nitride (InGaN) alloys are already widely used as commercial light emitters. 1,2 For high efficiency devices semipolar or nonpolar quantum-well orientations have been proposed. In these orientations the effect of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization is reduced and thereby the carrier overlap increased. [3][4][5] Growth of InGaN on GaN along semipolar or nonpolar directions leads to different strain conditions than the conventional growth along the c-direction. This affects the splitting of the uppermost valence bands and hence the polarization of the emitted light. A corresponding optical anisotropy has already been observed for both nonpolar 6-8 and semipolar 9-14 devices. This raises the question of how to control the polarization of the emitted light, which is not only of scientific interest but also of technical importance for the performance of light-emitting diodes and laser diodes.Recently, polarization switching has been reported for semipolar InGaN grown on a (1122) GaN substrate. 11,12 The dominant polarization direction of emission was found to switch from [1100] (perpendicular to the c-axis) to [1123] when the In concentration was increased above 30%, but the mechanism responsible for the change in polarization could not be identified. Other experimental studies have found no evidence of polarization switching, however. Under high excitation power density the sign of the polarization ratio of InGaN/GaN was found to remain unchanged even at high In content. 13,14 Why the polarization ratio is affected by the excitation power density also remains unclear.Three factors critically influence the band structure of InGaN quantum wells (QW) and therefore the polarization of the emitted light: indium concentration, strain, and quantum confinement. Based on k·p modeling Yamaguchi predicted that the QW thickness would strongly affect the polarization. 15 This seems qualitatively consistent with the results of Masui et al., who observed an enhancement in optical polarization for thinner quantum wells. 12 However, in Yamaguchi's work the magnitude of this quantum confinement effect is very sensitive to the choice of Luttinger parameters 16 and can range from 2 to 20 meV for 2nm thick quantum wells. Ueda et al., on the other hand, found no appreciable QW thickness effect. ...