Two kinds of self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) embedded within InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells were grown by molecular beam epitaxy: one was capped with an InAlAs strain reducing (SR) layer, while the other was not. Their emission dynamics was investigated by time-resolved and temperature dependent (TD) photoluminescence (PL) measurements. A significant redshift can be observed in the emission peak position of InAs QDs with thin InAlAs SR cap layer, which results from SR effects. Different behaviors of the integrated PL intensity for the samples with or without InAlAs layer may be ascribed to the reduced carrier transition at higher temperature for the higher energy barrier of the InAlAs layer, and the TD mode of carrier migration. The PL decay time of quantum dots grown with InAlAs layer was much longer than that without the layer, which implies that the InAlAs layer with higher energy barrier may enhance the quantum restriction of carriers in InAs QDs. These observations are discussed from the viewpoint of strain compensation and potential barrier variation with SR layers. Our experiments also demonstrate that the main mode of carrier migration is quantum tunneling effect at lower temperature, while it is quantum transition at higher temperature. The results demonstrate the importance of InAlAs SR layer for the optical quality of InAs QDs. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.