  III-V growth and surface conditions strongly influence the physical structure
and resulting optical properties of self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). Beyond
the design of a desired active optical wavelength, the polarization response of
QDs is of particular interest for optical communications and quantum
information science. Previous theoretical studies based on a pure InAs QD model
failed to reproduce experimentally observed polarization properties. In this
work, multi-million atom simulations are performed to understand the
correlation between chemical composition and polarization properties of QDs. A
systematic analysis of QD structural parameters leads us to propose a two layer
composition model, mimicking In segregation and In-Ga intermixing effects. This
model, consistent with mostly accepted compositional findings, allows to
accurately fit the experimental PL spectra. The detailed study of QD morphology
parameters presented here serves as a tool for using growth dynamics to
engineer the strain field inside and around the QD structures, allowing tuning
of the polarization response.
