Self-assembly Drives Quantum Dot Photoluminescence

Engineering the spectral properties of quantum dots can be achieved by a control of the quantum dots organization on a substrate. Indeed, many applications of quantum dots as LEDs are based on the realization of a 3D architecture of quantum dots. In this contribution, we present a systematic study of the quantum dot organization obtained on different chemically modified substrates. By varying the chemical affinity between the quantum dots and the substrate, the quantum dot organization is strongly modified from the 2D monolayer to the 3D aggregates. Then the photoluminescence of the different obtained samples has been systematically studied and correlated with the quantum dot film organization. We clearly show that the interaction between the substrate and the quantum dot must be stronger than the quantum dot–quantum dot interaction to avoid 3D aggregation and that these organization strongly modified the photoluminescence of the film rather than intrinsic changes of the quantum dot induced by pure surface chemistry.     

Electronic Green's functions in a T-shaped multi-quantum dot system

We developed a set of equations to calculate the electronic Green's functions in a T-shaped multi-quantum dot system using the equation of motion method. We model the system using a generalized Anderson Hamiltonian which accounts for finite intradot on-site Coulomb interaction in all component dots as well as for the interdot electron tunneling between adjacent quantum dots. Our results are obtained within and beyond the Hartree–Fock approximation and provide a path to evaluate all the electronic correlations in the multi-quantum dot system in the Coulomb blockade regime. Both approximations provide information on the physical effects related to the finite intradot on-site Coulomb interaction. As a particular example for our generalized results, we considered the simplest T-shaped system consisting of two dots and proved that our approximation introduces important corrections in the detector and side dots Green's functions, and implicitly in the evaluation of the system's transport properties. The multi-quantum dot T-shaped setup may be of interest for the practical realization of qubit states in quantum dot systems.     

Spin interactions,relaxation and decoherence in quantum dots

We review recent studies on spin decoherence of electrons and holes in quasi-two-dimensional quantum dots, as well as electron-spin relaxation in nanowire quantum dots. The spins of confined electrons and holes are considered major candidates for the realization of quantum information storage and processing devices, provided that sufficiently long coherence and relaxation times can be achieved. The results presented here indicate that this prerequisite might be realized in both electron and hole quantum dots, taking one large step towards quantum computation with spin qubits.     

基于CdSe/ZnS量子点光转化层的高稳定性白光LED器件

采用一步法合成了510,550和630 nm三种峰值的高稳定性、高量子效率核壳结构CdSe/ZnS量子点材料,其量子产率分别达到82%,98%,97%。将该量子点材料取代传统的荧光粉材料,与硅胶均匀混合后作为光转换层涂覆到蓝色InGaN LED芯片上,制备了白光LED器件。通过依次添加不同颜色量子点制备的量子点光转换层,考察了510,550和630 nm三色CdSe/ZnS量子点在硅胶中的不同配比对白光LED器件性能的影响,研究了不同颜色量子点之间的能量转换机制,利用量子点对白光光谱及其色坐标的影响机制,得到优化的白光器件结果及其三色量子点的配比,结果表明,当绿色、黄绿色、红色三种量子点之间的配比为24∶7∶10时,得到高稳定性、高效率的正白光器件特性,在电流20～200 mA范围内,色温变化为4 607～5 920 K,色坐标变化为（0.355 1,0.348 3）～（0.323 4,0.336 1）,显色指数变化为77.6～84.2,器件最高功率效率达到31.69 lm W-1@20 mA。另外,为了进一步考察器件性能稳定的原因,研究了时间、温度以及UV处理对CdSe/ZnS QDs/硅胶混合光转换材料稳定性的影响,结果表明,器件的高稳定性可归因于所采用的一步法合成的核壳结构量子点材料本身的稳定性,研究的优化器件结果是一种低能耗的优质白光光源,可使人们真实地感知物体的原貌,在正白光光源领域具有很好的应用前景。     

Intersublevel transitions in self-assembled quantum dots

Intersublevel transitions in semiconductor quantum dots are transitions of a charge carrier between quantum dot confined states. In InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots, optically active intersublevel transitions occur in the mid-infrared spectral range. These transitions can provide a new insight on the physics of semiconductor quantum dots and offer new opportunities to develop mid-infrared devices. A key feature characterizing intersublevel transitions is the coupling of the confined carriers to phonons. We show that the effect of the strong coupling regime for the electron–optical phonon interaction and the formation of mixed electron–phonon quasi-particles called polarons drastically affect and control the dynamical properties of quantum dots. The engineering of quantum dot relaxation rates through phonon coupling opens the route to the realization of new devices like mid-infrared polaron lasers. We finally show that the measurement of intersublevel absorption is not limited to quantum dot ensembles and that the intersublevel ultrasmall absorption of a single quantum dot can be measured with a nanometer scale resolution by using phonon emission as a signature of the absorption. To cite this article: P. Boucaud et al., C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Effective microscopic theory of quantum dot superlattice solar cells

We introduce a quantum dot orbital tight-binding non-equilibrium Green’s function approach for the simulation of novel solar cell devices where both absorption and conduction are mediated by quantum dot states. By the use of basis states localized on the quantum dots, the computational real space mesh of the Green’s function is coarse-grained from atomic resolution to the quantum dot spacing, which enables the simulation of extended devices consisting of many quantum dot layers.     

Electric field control of exciton states in quantum dot molecules

Semiconductor nanostructures have attracted considerable interest during the recent years in view of the potential application in quantum information processing. In particular, quantum dots have been suggested to fulfill an essential requirement for quantum computation: controllable interaction that couples two quantum dot qubits. Previous experiments on two vertically aligned quantum dots have demonstrated the formation of coupled exciton states. We show that this coupling between two In_0.60Ga_0.40As/GaAs quantum dots can be tuned by an electric field applied along the molecule axis. This controllable coupling in such a relatively simple configuration could be implemented in a solid-state-based quantum device.     

Geometric phase of an open double-quantum-dot system detected by a quantum point contact

We study theoretically the geometric phase of a double-quantum-dot(DQD) system measured by a quantum point contact(QPC) in the pure dephasing and dissipative environments, respectively. The results show that in these two environments, the coupling strength between the quantum dots has an enhanced impact on the geometric phase during a quasiperiod. This is due to the fact that the expansion of the width of the tunneling channel connecting the two quantum dots accelerates the oscillations of the electron between the quantum dots and makes the length of the evolution path longer.In addition, there is a notable near-zero region in the geometric phase because the stronger coupling between the system and the QPC freezes the electron in one quantum dot and the solid angle enclosed by the evolution path is approximately zero,which is associated with the quantum Zeno effect. For the pure dephasing environment, the geometric phase is suppressed as the dephasing rate increases which is caused only by the phase damping of the system. In the dissipative environment,the geometric phase is reduced with the increase of the relaxation rate which results from both the energy dissipation and phase damping of the system. Our results are helpful for using the geometric phase to construct the fault-tolerant quantum devices based on quantum dot systems in quantum information.     

巯基丙酸分子对CdSe核壳量子点和 ZnO纳米粒子薄膜之间电荷转移的影响

通过稳态光谱和时间分辨荧光光谱研究了巯基丙酸(MPA)分子对由量子点到ZnO纳米粒子薄膜的电荷转移过程的影响。研究发现,相对于CdSe纳米粒子薄膜样品,没有MPA分子参与作用的CdSe/ZnO薄膜样品和有MPA分子连接的CdSe/MPA/ZnO薄膜样品中都存在从CdSe量子点到ZnO纳米粒子薄膜的有效电荷分离过程,但是相对于CdSe/ZnO样品, CdSe/MPA/ZnO样品中电荷转移速率明显变小。这表明MPA分子本身它并不能促进CdSe到ZnO电荷分离过程,因此可以认为用金属氧化物薄膜直接吸附量子点吸收材料,将能获得高功率转换效率的量子点敏化太阳能电池。     

Complete entanglement analysis on electron spins using quantum dot and microcavity coupled system

We present an entanglement analysis protocol on entangled electron spins using quantum dot (QD) and microcavity coupled system. Each quantum dot is placed in the microcavity and ancilla photon input-output process could be used to check the parity of the quantum dots. After the parity check process, the user only needs to measure the spin direction of the QD spin, and the state information can be readout completely. The feasibility of our scheme and the experimental challenge are discussed by considering currently available techniques.     

Magneto-optical single dot spectroscopy of GaSb/GaAs type II quantum dots

We have investigated magneto-optical properties of GaSb/GaAs self-assemble type II quantum dots by single dot spectroscopy in magnetic field. We have observed clear Zeeman splitting and diamagnetic shift of GaSb/GaAs quantum dots. The diamagnetic coefficient ranges from 5 to 30 μeV/T². The large coefficient and their large distribution are attributed to the size inhomogeneity and electron localization outside the dot. The g-factor of GaSb/GaAs quantum dots is slightly larger than that of similar type I InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots. In addition, we find almost linear relationship between the diamagnetic coefficient and the g-factor. The linear increase of g-factor with diamagnetic coefficient is due to an increase of spin-orbit interaction with dot size.     

基于重叠栅工艺的硅量子点阵列的制备与调控

利用半导体量子点阵列结构实现近邻耦合是规模化扩展自旋量子比特的主要方案之一. 随着量子点数目的增加, 量子点阵列器件的制作工艺及参数调控均愈加复杂. 本文介绍了一种重叠栅工艺结构, 利用多层相互重叠且具有不同功能的栅极定义量子点, 制作出结构紧凑、 调控性好的量子点阵列器件, 解决了工艺扩展的难题. 此外,本文发展了一套高效可靠的调控方法, 按顺序逐个添加量子点并建立虚拟电极, 实现了对量子点参数的独立控制,并且能够高效且独立地调控各量子点中的电子数目, 克服了大规模量子点阵列中电压参数配置的困难. 这些方法为未来实现大规模自旋比特阵列提供了一种标准化的方案.     

双量子点分子的电子结构

采用推广的LCAO方法和有限元方法计算了两个相同量子点组成的双量子点分子的电子结构,结果表明这种人造分子间的相互作用随两个量子点中心之间距离的变化可实现由共价键向离子键的转变.对于两个不同的量子点组成的双量子点分子,利用有限元方法计算了两个量子点中心之间距离、量子点受限势高度以及量子点半径对这种人造分子的电子结构的影响,定性地说明了Oosterkamp等人的实验现象. 关键词： 量子点分子 电子结构 共价键 离子键     

Spectral response of the intrinsic region of a GaAs–InAs quantum dot solar cell considering the absorption spectra of ideal cubic dots

Recently, attempts have been made by some researchers to improve the efficiency of quantum dot solar cells by incorporating different types of quantum dots. In this paper, the photocurrent density has been obtained considering the absorption spectra of ideal cubic dots. The effects of quantum dot size dispersion on the spectral response of the intrinsic region of a GaAs–InAs quantum dot solar cell have been studied. The dependence of the spectral response of this region on the size of quantum dots of such solar cell has also been investigated. The investigation shows that for smaller quantum dot size dispersion, the spectral response of the intrinsic region of the cell increases significantly. It is further observed that by enlarging the quantum dot size it is possible to enhance the spectral response of such solar cells as it causes better match between absorption spectra of the quantum dots and the solar spectrum. These facts indicate the significant role of quantum dot size and size dispersion on the performance of such devices. Also, the power conversion efficiency of such solar cell has been studied under 1 sun, AM 1.5 condition.     

The structure transition from vertical alignment to anti-alignment of InAs/InP quantum dot multilayers

We calculate the minimum Gibbs free energy of the InAs/InP quantum dot multilayer by combining the method of moving asymptotes and the finite element method. Based on the principle of the least energy, the transition between vertically aligned and anti-aligned quantum dot multilayers is studied. We investigate the influence of quantum dot base size and density on critical spacer thickness for the transition. The study results indicate that the critical thickness increases with the decrease in the density of quantum dots, while the base size of the quantum dot is linear to the critical thickness when the density is given.     

Quantum Dot Research: Current State and Future Prospects

This article reviews the current state of research involving semiconductor quantum dots, provides a brief review of the theory behind their unique properties, and an introduction explaining the importance of quantum dot research. The characteristic shifting of the band gap energy with quantum dot size, as predicted from the density of states for low-dimensional structures, allows experimental measurements to determine the extent to which quantum confinement effects play a role in the resulting properties. A few of the current techniques used to measure the presence and physical characteristics of quantum dots and their energy levels is reviewed, including transmission electron microscopy, optical transmission, and Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Finally, some of the more exciting applications for quantum dots currently being researched for use in the field of optoelectronics are reviewed, including quantum dot infrared photodetectors, quantum dot lasers, and quantum dot solar cells. Comments are made on the current progress and the future prospects of quantum dot research and device applications.     

Experimental demonstration of coherent coupling of two quantum dots

During the recent years semiconductor nanostructures have attracted considerable interest with respect to potential applications in quantum information processing. In particular, quantum dot molecules have been suggested to provide the building block of a quantum computer: forming quantum gates due to coherent coupling of two dots. The characteristic dependence of the splitting of ‘bonding’ and ‘anti-bonding’ states suggests coherent coupling of two InAs/GaAs quantum dots. Anti-crossings in the fine structure of excitons due to mixing of optically bright and dark states have been observed in Faraday configuration. In Voigt configuration the diamagnetic shift of the quantum dot molecule is enhanced compared to a single quantum dot. These findings altogether demonstrate the coherent coupling of exciton states in quantum dot molecules.     

Gate adjustable coherent three and four level mixing in a vertical quantum dot molecule

We study level mixing in the single-particle energy spectrum of one of the constituent quantum dots in a vertical double quantum dot by performing magneto-resonant-tunneling spectroscopy. The device used in this study differs from previous vertical double quantum dot devices in that the single side gate is now split into four separate gates. Because of the presence of natural perturbations caused by anharmonicity and anisotropy, applying different combinations of voltages to these gates allows us to alter the effective potential landscape of the two dots and hence influence the level mixing. We present here preliminary results from one three level crossing and one four level crossing high up in the energy spectrum of one of the probed quantum dots, and demonstrate that we are able to change significantly the energy dispersions with magnetic field in the vicinity of the crossing regions.     

Random lasing of CsPbBr3 perovskite thin films pumped by modulated electron beam

Aiming at the application requirements of information optics,this Letter proposed a perovskite quantum dot random lasing pumping method suitable for high-speed modulation.At the same time,the luminescence characteristics of perovskite quantum dot films under electron beam pumping conditions are analyzed,and the random lasing mechanism of electron beam pumping CsPbBr3 quantum dot films is revealed.Finally,it is confirmed that perovskite quantum dots are easy to realize random lasing under electron beam pumping conditions.     

Infrared spectroscopy of intraband transitions in Ge/Si quantum dot superlattices

We report the study of infrared spectroscopy of intraband transitions in Ge/Si quantum dot superlattices. The superlattices, which were grown on (001) oriented Si substrates by a solid source molecular beam epitaxy system, are composed mainly of 20 or 30 periods of Ge dot layers and Si spacer films. The structural properties of them and of the uncapped Ge dots grown on the surfaces of some of them were tested by cross-sectional transmission electron and atomic force microscopes, respectively. It is found that the Ge quantum dots have flat lens-like shapes. Infrared absorption signals peaking in the mid-infrared range were observed using Fourier transform infrared and Raman scattering spectroscopy techniques. Experimental and theoretical analysis suggests that the mid-infrared response be attributed to intraband transitions within the valence band of the Ge quantum dots in the superlattices. The fact that the intraband absorption is strongly polarized along the growth axis of the superlattices signifies that the Ge quantum dots with flat lens-like shapes perform as Ge/Si-based quantum wells. This study demonstrates the application potential of these kinds of Ge/Si quantum dot superlattices for developing mid-infrared photodetectors.