The optical, electrical, and spectral properties of a strain coupled InAs quantum dot detector with a fixed quaternary capping of InAlGaAs and variable GaAs barrier thickness were investigated along with an equivalent uncoupled structure. Self-assembled quantum dots with a multimodal dot size distribution were achieved owing to vertical strain coupling. Strain and electronic coupling were utilized to improve the optical and electrical performance of the fabricated quantum dot infrared photodetector. The peak spectral response was tuned by varying barrier thickness, and a blue shift (almost 1 μm) was observed by increasing the capping thickness from sample A (90 Å capping) to E (500 Å capping). High responsivity and detectivity (∼1010 cm Hz1/2/W) were observed for all coupled samples as compared to the uncoupled sample. All coupled samples showed high thermal stability in the photoluminescence peak with high-temperature annealing. © 2014 American Vacuum Society.