Metastability of Ultradense Arrays of Quantum Dots

We present a linear stability analysis of ultradense arrays of coherently strained islands against Ostwald ripening. Surprisingly, short-range elastic interactions are found to overcome the destabilizing contribution of surface energy, leading to a metastable array of quantum dots. Simulations of Ostwald ripening kinetics directly verify the existence of this metastable regime and confirm the nature of the most unstable mode for subcritical island coverage.