Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns of uncapped pyramidal shaped InAs Stranski-Krastanov quantum dots fabricated on GaAs (0 0 1) substrate are investigated theoretically. Clear correlations between features in the RHEED images and quantum dot structural properties, as quantum dot facet orientation and quantum dot height, are established. In particular, it is shown that lateral facet orientation and dot heights can be directly extracted from the characteristic chevron angles and predicted intensity oscillations along the chevron tails, respectively. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.