Ultrafast carrier dynamics of resonantly excited InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We study theoretically the time development of electronic relaxation in quantum dots. We consider the process of relaxation of the state with an electron prepared at the beginning of relaxation in the electronic ground state. We obtain a fast (in picoseconds) increase of electronic population in the excited state. Also, we consider the process of relaxation of an electron from an excited state in the dot. Here we obtain an incomplete depopulation of the electron from the excited state. We compare these results to experiments in which a fast decrease of luminescence is reported during the first period of relaxation after resonant excitation of the ground state. We estimate numerically the role of electron–LO–phonon (Fröhlich's coupling) mechanism in these processes. We show that this effect may be attributed to the influence of multiple scattering of quantum dot electrons on LO phonons. A single-electron two-energy-level quantum dot model is used to demonstrate this effect in an isolated semiconductor quantum dot.     

Magnetic-field effects on exciton–polaron in a CdSe quantum disk

We study theoretically the interaction between excitons and longitudinal optical (LO) phonons in a cylindrical disk-like semiconductor quantum dot under an applied magnetic field. Due to the intensity of the interaction in the strong coupling regime, a composite quasi-particle called exciton–polaron is formed. We focus on the effect of the disk size and an external magnetic field on the exciton–phonon interaction energy and the exciton–polaron modes. The numerical computation for a CdSe quantum disk have shown that the exciton–phonon interaction energy is very significant and is even dominant when the disk height is small, which leads to a large Rabi splitting between the exciton–polaron modes. We investigate also the effect of the temperature on the integrated photoluminescence (PL) intensity, and show that at relatively high temperature the LO phonons have a noticeable effect on it. This physical parameter also shows a great dependence on quantum disk size and on magnetic field.     

Dephasing times in quantum dots due to elastic LO phonon-carrier collisions

Interpretation of experiments on quantum dot (QD) lasers presents a challenge: the phonon bottleneck, which should strongly suppress relaxation and dephasing of the discrete energy states, often seems to be inoperative. We suggest and develop a theory for an intrinsic mechanism for dephasing in QDs: second-order elastic interaction between quantum dot charge carriers and LO phonons. The calculated dephasing times are of the order of 200 fs at room temperature, consistent with experiments. The phonon bottleneck thus does not prevent significant room temperature dephasing.     

二维量子点中极化子的自旋弛豫

在考虑Rashba自旋-轨道耦合的条件下, 采用二次幺正变换和变分方法研究了二维抛物量子点中由于电子与体纵光学声子的耦合作用形成的极化子在基态Zeeman分裂能级上的自旋弛豫过程.这一过程主要是通过吸收或发射一个形变势或压电声学声子完成.具体分析了强、弱耦合两种极限下极化子自旋弛豫率与外磁场、量子点半径、Landau因子参数、Rashba自旋轨道耦合参数的变化关系. 关键词： 自旋弛豫 极化子 Rashba自旋轨道耦合 量子点     

Polarization selective magneto-optical study on the coupled quantum dots using resonant excitation

We have studied a double-layer self-assembled quantum dot (QD) structures consisting of non-magnetic CdSe and magnetic CdMnSe. Transmission electron microscopy image shows that QDs are formed within the CdSe and CdMnSe layers, and they are vertically correlated in the system. The strong interband ground state transition was observed in magneto-photoluminescence (PL) experiments. In contrast to a typical behavior for many low-dimensional systems involving diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs), where PL signal dramatically increases when an external magnetic field is applied, we have observed a significant decrease of the PL intensity as a function of magnetic field in the double-layer structures where the alternating QD layers contain the DMS and non-DMS QDs. We attribute such effect to carrier transfer from non-magnetic CdSe dots to magnetic CdMnSe dots due to the large Zeeman shift of the band edges of DMS QDs in magnetic field. Since the band alignment of QD structure strongly depends on the spin states of system, we performed polarization-selective PL measurement to identify spin-dependent carrier tunneling in this coupled system.     

Multi-exciton spectroscopy on a self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot

We report about spatially resolved magneto-optical experiments on a self-assembled InGaAs quantum dot. Using electron beam lithograpy for patterning a metal shadow mask we can isolate a single dot. This allows us to study the optical response of a single dot as a function of excitation power and magnetic field. We investigate the influence of many body interaction in the emission spectra for different exciton occupation numbers of the dot. The diamagnetic/orbital shift as well as Zeeman splitting in a magnetic field can be fully resolved and are used to identify the observed emission lines. Further we report on absorption properties of the quantum dot as a function of magnetic field. We analyse in detail the phonon-assisted absorption process connected with the GaAs LO-phonon 36 meV above the single-exciton ground state.     

The effects of LO phonons on charge qubit

In this paper, we study the influence of LO phonon (LOP) on the charge qubit in a quantum dot (QD), and find that the eigenenergies of the ground and first excited states are reduced due to the electron-LOP interaction. At the same time, the time evolution of the electron probability density is obtained, the dependence of the oscillating period on electron-LOP coupling constant is found, the relation of between the oscillating period and the confinement length of the QD is calculated. Finally, we consider the effects of the electron-LOP coupling constant on pure dephasing factor under considering the correction of electron-LOP interaction for the wave functions. Our results suggest that electron-LOP interaction has very important effects on charge qubit.     

极化子效应对ZnS/CdSe核壳量子点光吸收系数的影响

在有效质量近似下,利用量子力学密度矩阵理论,从理论上研究了考虑极化子效应后核壳量子点中线性、三阶非线性以及总的光吸收系数在不同条件下随入射光能量变化的关系。通过数值计算,分析了电子-LO声子和电子-IO声子相互作用对ZnS/CdSe柱型核壳结构量子点光吸收系数的影响。结果表明,极化子效应对光吸收系数有很大影响,不同声子模式对光吸收系数影响大小不同。考虑电子-LO声子后,光吸收系数被大大提高。另外,入射光强和弛豫时间对系统的吸收系数也有很大影响。     

强耦合半无限极性晶体中磁极化子的激发能量

采用线性组合算符和幺正变换,利用变分法计算了多原子半无限极性晶体中由电子和光学声子强耦合相互作用所产生的磁极化子的第一激发能量及平均声子数,并通过适当的数值计算图示了它们与磁场的关系。结果表明:在不同的磁场条件下,电子无限接近晶体表面和电子处于晶体深处时,磁极化子的第一激发能量和平均声子数都有所不同。     

Direct spin–phonon coupling of spin-flip relaxation in quantum dots

Within the frame of the Pavlov–Firsov spin–phonon coupling model, we study the spin-flip assisted by the acoustical phonon scattering between the first-excited state and the ground state in quantum dots. We analyze the behaviors of the spin relaxation rates as a function of an external magnetic field and lateral radius of quantum dot. The different trends of the relaxation rates depending on the magnetic field and lateral radius are obtained, which may serve as a channel to distinguish the relaxation processes and thus control the spin state effectively.     

Acoustic phonon impact on the inter-Coulombic decay process in charged quantum dot pairs

ABSTRACT

Recently, highly accurate multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree electron dynamics calculations demonstrated the efficient long-range energy transfer inter-Coulombic decay (ICD) process to happen in charged semiconductor quantum dot (QD) pairs. ICD is initiated by intraband photoexcitation of one of the QDs and leads to electron emission from the other within a duration of about 150 ps. On the same time scale electronically excited states are reported to relax due to the coupling of electrons to acoustic phonons. Likewise, phonons promote ionisation. Here, the QDs' acoustic breathing mode is implemented in a frozen-phonon approach. A detailed comparison of the phonon effects on electron relaxation and emission as well as on the full ICD process is presented, which supports the previous empirical finding of ICD being the dominant decay channel in paired QDs. In addition the relative importance of phonon–phonon, phonon–electron and electron–electron interaction is analysed.     

Nonequilibrium spin transport through a diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dot system with noncollinear magnetization

The spin-dependent transport through a diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dot (QD) which is coupled via magnetic tunnel junctions to two ferromagnetic leads is studied theoretically. A noncollinear system is considered, where the QD is magnetized at an arbitrary angle with respect to the leads’ magnetization. The tunneling current is calculated in the coherent regime via the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) formalism, incorporating the electron–electron interaction in the QD. We provide the first analytical solution for the Green’s function of the noncollinear DMS quantum dot system, solved via the equation of motion method under Hartree–Fock approximation. The transport characteristics (charge and spin currents, and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR)) are evaluated for different voltage regimes. The interplay between spin-dependent tunneling and single-charge effects results in three distinct voltage regimes in the spin and charge current characteristics. The voltage range in which the QD is singly occupied corresponds to the maximum spin current and greatest sensitivity of the spin current to the QD magnetization orientation. The QD device also shows transport features suitable for sensor applications, i.e., a large charge current coupled with a high TMR ratio.     

Properties of Unsymmetrical Parabolic Confinement Potential Quantum Dot Qubit

On the condition of electric-LO phonon strong coupling in unsymmetrical parabolic confinement potential quantum dot (QD), we obtain the eigenenergies of the ground state and the first-excited state, the eigenfunctions of the ground state, and the first-excited state by using variational method of Pekar type. This system in QD may be employed as a two-level quantum system-qubit. When the electron is in the superposition state of the ground state and the first-excited state, we obtain the time evolution of the electron density. The relations both the probability density of electron and the period of oscillation with the electron-LO-phonon coupling strength, the confinement strengths in the xy-plane and the z-direction are discussed.     

抛物量子点中弱耦合束缚极化子的相互作用能

研究了抛物量子点中弱耦合束缚极化子的性质,采用改进的线性组合算符和幺正变换方法导出了束缚极化子的振动频率、有效质量和相互作用能。讨论了量子点的有效受限长度、电子LO声子耦合强度和库仑场对抛物量子点中弱耦合极化子的振动频率、有效质量和相互作用能的影响。数值计算结果表明:弱耦合束缚极化子的振动频率和相互作用能随有效受限长度的减少而急剧增大,振动频率随库仑势以及电子LO声子耦合强度的增加而增加,而相互作用能随库仑势以及电子LO声子耦合强度的增加而减小。有效质量仅与电子LO声子耦合强度有关。     

抛物量子点中强耦合束缚磁极化子的声子平均数

采用线性组合算符和幺正变换方法导出了强耦合束缚磁极化子的振动频率和声子平均数。讨论了量子点的有效受限长度、磁场、库仑场和电子-LO声子耦合强度对抛物量子点中强耦合束缚磁极化子振动频率和声子平均数的影响。数值计算结果表明:强耦合束缚磁极化子的振动频率和声子平均数均随量子点的有效受限长度、回旋共振频率的增加而减小,随库仑束缚势的增加而增加,声子平均数随电子-LO声子耦合强度增加而减小。     

Heat generation properties determined by chemical potentials

We investigate the current-induced heat generation in a quantum dot (QD) coupled to four spin chemical potentials, which originate from the magnetic pumping field applied on the QD. Both resonant and non-resonant electron tunneling process is analyzed. It is found that the heat generation characteristic is mainly determined by the two spin chemical potentials lying nearest to the dot level. In particular, when the difference of this two potentials is less than two phonon energy, the heat generation exhibits quantum properties, unique behavior to nanosystems and absent in macroscopic bulks.     

Properties of strong-coupling magneto-bipolaron qubit in quantum dot under magnetic field

Based on the variational method of Pekar type, we study the energies and the wave-functions of the ground and the first-excited states of magneto-bipolaron, which is strongly coupled to the LO phonon in a parabolic potential quantum dot under an applied magnetic field, thus built up a quantum dot magneto-bipolaron qubit. The results show that the oscillation period of the probability density of the two electrons in the qubit decreases with increasing electron–phonon coupling strength α, resonant frequency of the magnetic field ω_c, confinement strength of the quantum dot ω_0, and dielectric constant ratio of the medium η; the probability density of the two electrons in the qubit oscillates periodically with increasing time t, angular coordinate φ_2, and dielectric constant ratio of the medium η; the probability of electron appearing near the center of the quantum dot is larger, and the probability of electron appearing away from the center of the quantum dot is much smaller.     

Zeeman energy and spin relaxation in a one-electron quantum dot

We have measured the relaxation time, T1, of the spin of a single electron confined in a semiconductor quantum dot (a proposed quantum bit). In a magnetic field, applied parallel to the two-dimensional electron gas in which the quantum dot is defined, Zeeman splitting of the orbital states is directly observed by measurements of electron transport through the dot. By applying short voltage pulses, we can populate the excited spin state with one electron and monitor relaxation of the spin. We find a lower bound on T1 of 50 micros at 7.5 T, only limited by our signal-to-noise ratio. A continuous measurement of the charge on the dot has no observable effect on the spin relaxation.     

Rashba效应影响下量子点中弱耦合束缚极化子的性质

采用改进的线性组合算符和幺正变换的方法研究了Rashba效应影响下量子点中弱耦合束缚极化子的性质,导出了Rashba效应影响下量子点中弱耦合束缚极化子的振动频率、有效质量、基态分裂能和相互作用能。数值计算结果表明随Rashba自旋-轨道耦合常数的增加,由于声子作用产生的附加能量能对零磁场时自旋分裂能的影响占有绝对优势。库仑势对束缚极化子的基态能量的影响同时也占有绝对优势。所以,研究Rashba自旋轨道相互作时声子的影响不可忽略。     

Magnetic field effect on state energies and transition frequency of a strong-coupling polaron in an anisotropic quantum dot

By employing a variational method of the Pekar-type, which has different variational parameters in the x–y plane and the z-direction, we study the ground and the first excited state energies and transition frequency between the ground and the first excited states of a strong-coupling polaron in an anisotropic quantum dot (AQD) under an applied magnetic field along the z-direction. The effects of the magnetic field and the electron–phonon coupling strength are taken into account. It is found that the ground and the first excited state energies and the transition frequency are increasing functions of the external applied magnetic field. The ground state and the first excited state energies are decreasing functions, whereas transition frequency is an increasing function of the electron–phonon coupling strength. We find two ways of tuning the state energies and the transition frequency: by adjusting (1) the magnetic field and (2) the electron–phonon coupling strength.