Influence of strain on built-in dipole moment in asymmetric In x Ga1−x As quantum dot molecules

Strain effects on a built-in electron-hole dipole moment are investigated in asymmetric In _x Ga_1?x As coupled quantum dots. We compute electron-hole separation as a function of alloy compositions for both electron and hole resonance cases. It is noted that the inclusion of strain enhances the built-in dipole moments and that the inverted electron-hole alignment is found for electron and hole resonances. Furthermore, the reversal of dipole moments gives rise to different asymmetric Stark shifts in each transition spectrum.     

Anomalous quantum-confined Stark effects in stacked InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

Vertically stacked and coupled InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (SADs) are predicted to exhibit strong hole localization even with vanishing separation between the dots, and a nonparabolic dependence of the interband transition energy on the electric field, which is not encountered in single SAD structures. Our study based on an eight-band strain-dependent k x p Hamiltonian indicates that this anomalous quantum confined Stark effect is caused by the three-dimensional strain field distribution which influences drastically the hole states in the stacked SAD structures.     

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.     

Electronic structure of asymmetric vertically coupled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

In this paper, the electronic structure of an asymmetric self-assembled vertically coupled quantum dots heterostructure has been investigated. The structure consists of two ellipsoidal quantum dot (QDs) caps made with InAs embedded in a wetting layer InAs and surrounded by GaAs. Using the strain dependent k·p theory, the energy of the two lowest states of a single electron/hole which is confined within the coupled QD structure has been calculated. As a result, it can be estimated the energy gap for different geometry parameters and for tuning the external magnetic field. The numerical results show that the energy gap is very sensitive to the size asymmetry of the structure and to the small separation distance of the dots but less sensitive to the existence of an external magnetic field and large interdot distance.     

Electronic structures of stacked layers quantum dots: influence of the non-perfect alignment and the applied electric field

Electronic structures of the artificial molecule comprising two truncated pyramidal quantum dots vertically coupled and embedded in the matrix are theoretically analysed via the finite element method.When the quantum dots are completely aligned,the electron energy levels decrease with the horizontally applied electric field.However,energy levels may have the maxima at non-zero electric field if the dots are staggered by a distance of several nanometers in the same direction of the electric field.In addition to shifting the energy levels,the electric field can also manipulate the electron wavefunctions confined in the quantum dots,in company with the non-perfect alignment.     

Theoretical study of quantum confined Stark shift in InAs／GaAs quantum dots

The quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) of the self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots has been investigated theoretically. The ground-state transition energies for quantum dots in the shape of a cube, pyramid or “truncated pyramid” are calculated and analysed. We use a method based on the Green function technique for calculating thestrain in quantum dots and an efficient plane-wave envelope-function technique to determine the ground-state electronic structure of them with different shapes. The symmetry of quantum dots is broken by the effect of strain. So the properties of carriers show different behaviours from the traditional quantum device. Based on these results, we also calculate permanent built-in dipole moments and compare them with recent experimental data. Our results demonstrate that the measured Stark effect in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot structures can be explained by including linear grading.     

Magneto-optics of zero-dimensional electron systems

Photoluminescence spectroscopy has been used to probe the occupied electron states below the Fermi energy of zero-dimensional electron systems (0DESs) in both zero and finite magnetic fields. The arrays of modulation-doped quantum dots investigated were fabricated by both reactive-ion etching and strain-confining GaAs heterojunctions with a -layer of Be present in the GaAs, in order to improve luminescence efficiency. For the etched quantum dots we show that the low magnetic field dispersion T) of the acceptor recombination line is directly related to the magnetic field dependence of the total ground-state energy of interacting electrons in the quantum dots. For the strain-confined 0DESs we have mapped the magneto-dispersion of the quantum confined electron states to reveal 15 electrons per dot.     

Far-infrared giant dipole resonances in neutral quantum dots

A resonance behaviour of the far-infrared absorption probability at a frequency N^1/4 is predicted for clusters of N electron–hole pairs (2N110) confined in disk-shaped quantum dots. For radially symmetric dots, the absorption is dominated by a giant dipole resonance, which accounts for more than 98% of the energy-weighted photoabsorption sum rule.     

Coherent spin precession of electrons and excitons in charge tunable InP quantum dots

Coherent spin precession of electrons and excitons is observed in charge tunable InP quantum dots under the transverse magnetic field by means of time-resolved Kerr rotation. In a quantum dot doped by one electron, spin precession of the doped electron in the quantum dot starts out of phase with spin precession of the doped electrons in a GaAs substrate just after a trion is formed and persists for more than 2 ns even after the trion recombines. Simultaneously spin precession of a trion (hole) starts. Observation of spin precession of both a doped electron and a trion (hole) confirms creating coherent superposition of an electron and a trion as the initialization process of spin of doped electrons in quantum dots. In a neutral quantum dot, the exciton spin precession starts out of phase with spin precession of the doped electrons in a GaAs substrate and the precession frequency does not converge to 0 at the zero field limit. It contains the electron–hole exchange interaction and corresponds to the splitting between bright and dark excitons under the transverse magnetic field.     

Robust quantum dot exciton generation via adiabatic passage with frequency-swept optical pulses

The energy states in semiconductor quantum dots are discrete as in atoms, and quantum states can be coherently controlled with resonant laser pulses. Long coherence times allow the observation of Rabi flopping of a single dipole transition in a solid state device, for which occupancy of the upper state depends sensitively on the dipole moment and the excitation laser power. We report on the robust population inversion in a single quantum dot using an optical technique that exploits rapid adiabatic passage from the ground to an excited state through excitation with laser pulses whose frequency is swept through the resonance. This observation in photoluminescence experiments is made possible by introducing a novel optical detection scheme for the resonant electron hole pair (exciton) generation.     

Magneto-optics of three-dimensional quantum dots: a real time, time-dependent local spin–density approach

We perform adiabatic time-dependent local spin–density approximation (TDLSDA) calculations in real time of the excitation spectrum of three-dimensional quantum dots (QD's) in magnetic fields of arbitrary direction. In the case of parabolic confinement and electric dipole modes, the calculations reproduce exactly the generalized Kohn theorem, which is a stringent test of the numerical accuracy achieved by our practical implementation of TDLSDA. We apply the method to the study of spin dipole modes in a QD. Real time TDLSDA can be more efficient than Green's function methods to compute the dynamical properties of confined electrons, especially when the finite thickness of the system has to be taken into account. As an illustration, we obtain the dipole spin modes and the acoustic modes of vertical diatomic artificial quantum molecules at zero magnetic field.     

球型量子点中的电子拉曼散射

研究了球型半导体量子点中的电子拉曼散射.讨论了初态为导带全满,价带全空时的电子跃迁过程,给出了电子拉曼散射的跃迁选择定则。通过计算GaAs和CdS材料球型量子点中电子及空穴参与拉曼散射的微分散射截面,分别比较了电子和空穴的不同影响,发现电子对拉曼散射的贡献要远大于空穴的贡献;当选取不同量子点半径时,拉曼散射微分散射截面变化也非常明显;量子点尺寸不变的条件下,改变入射光子能量,可以发现,微分散射截面随入射光子能量增大而减小。     

Morphology effects of self-assembled quantum dots on the energy spectrum of magneto-excitons

In this paper we analyze the changes experienced by the energy spectra of a confined exciton in type II semiconductor quantum dots, considering the quantum dot as a possible functional part that, in the future devices, can be applied in spintronics, optoelectronics, and quantum information technologies. We studied the lowest energy states of an exciton (X) confined in type II InP/GaInP self-assembled quantum dot (SAQDs), with axial symmetry in the presence of a uniformly applied magnetic field in the growth direction. In our model, it is considered that the electron is located within the point of InP and the hole is in the GaInP barrier. The solution of the Schrödinger equation for this system is obtained by a variational separation process of variables in the adiabatic approximation limit and within the effective mass approximation. We study the energy levels associated with the electron and the hole, and the energy of the exciton. Due to the axial symmetry of the problem the z component of the total orbital angular momentum, L_z=l_e+l_h, is preserved and the exciton states are classified according to the values of this component. Quantum dots have a finite and variable thickness, with the purpose of analyzing the effects related to the variation of the morphology and the presence of a wet layer.     

Competition between carrier recombination and tunneling in quantum dots and rings under the action of electric fields

In the presence of a stationary electric field applied in the growth direction tunneling of electrons out of the quantum dots can take place. This mechanism competes with the quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) that produces an increase of the exciton lifetime by increasing the electric field, mainly due to a net decrease of the electron–hole wavefunction overlap. The electric field range where QCSE dominates over tunneling will be mainly determined by the size of the nanostructure along the vertical direction (height), as demonstrated in this work.     

Dynamics of 2-D one electron quantum dots in pulsed field: Influence of size

We explore the dynamics of harmonically confined single electron quantum dots as a function of dot size when an external time varying pulsed electric field is switched on. The system of interest is a 2-D system in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. We show that for given strengths of the confining potentials, the pattern of time evolution of eigenstates of the unperturbed system reveals significant size-dependence. The pulse duration time is also found to modulate the dynamical aspects in a prominent way.     

Spin states of holes in Ge/Si nanowire quantum dots

We investigate tunable hole quantum dots defined by surface gating Ge/Si core-shell nanowire heterostructures. In single level Coulomb-blockade transport measurements at low temperatures spin doublets are found, which become sequentially filled by holes. Magnetotransport measurements allow us to extract a g factor g approximately 2 close to the value of a free spin-1/2 particle in the case of the smallest dot. In less confined quantum dots smaller g factor values are observed. This indicates a lifting of the expected strong spin-orbit interaction effects in the valence band for holes confined in small enough quantum dots. By comparing the excitation spectrum with the addition spectrum we tentatively identify a hole exchange interaction strength chi approximately 130 microeV.     

Spectral diffusion in nitride quantum dots: Emission energy dependent linewidths broadening via giant built‐in dipole moments

We present a study about the origin of the huge emission linewidths broadening commonly observed for wurtzite GaN/AlN quantum dots. Our analysis is based on a statistically significant number of quantum dot spectra measured by an automatized µ‐photoluminescence mapping system applying image recognition techniques. A clear decrease of the single quantum dot emission linewidths is observed with rising overall exciton emission energy. 8‐band k · p based model calculations predict a corresponding decrease of the built‐in exciton dipole moments with increasing emission energy in agreement with the measured behavior for the emission linewidths. Based on this proportionality we explain the particular susceptibility of nitride quantum dots to spectral diffusion causing the linewidth broadening via the linear quantum‐confined Stark effect. This is the first statistical analysis of emission linewidths that identifies the giant excitonic dipole moments as their origin and estimates the native defect‐induced electric field strength to ～2 MV/m. Our observation is in contrast to less‐polar quantum dot systems as e.g. arsenides that exhibit a naturally lower vulnerability to emission linewidth broadening due to almost negligible exciton dipole moments. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Influence of a lateral electric field on the optical properties of InAs quantum dots

We have performed single dot photoluminescence and time-resolved ensemble photoluminescence measurements on InAs quantum dots embedded in a lateral in-plane p–i–n or n–i–n device, respectively, which makes the application of lateral electric fields, i.e. field direction perpendicular to the growth direction, feasible. Time-resolved measurements show an increase in the radiative lifetime of up to 30% with increasing field. We attribute this to the reduced overlap between the electron and hole wave functions. Single dot spectroscopy revealed a small red-shift of the emission energies of maximum 0.5 meV. This shift can be explained by the quantum confined Stark effect taking into account that the red-shift due to the band-tilting is partly compensated by a decrease in exciton binding energy.     

Electron and hole effective masses in self-assembled quantum dots

Electron and hole effective masses in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots are determined by fitting the energy levels calculated by a single-band model to those obtained by a more sophisticated tight-binding method. For the dots of various shapes and dimensions, the electron effective-mass is found to be much larger than that in the bulk and become anisotropic in the dots of large aspect ratio while the hole effective-mass becomes almost isotropic in the dots of small aspect ratio. For flat InAs/GaAs quantum dots, the most appropriate value for the electron and hole effective-mass is believed to be the electron effective-mass in bulk GaAs and the vertical heavy-hole effective-mass in bulk InAs, respectively.     

Electron states,effective masses and transverse effective charge of InAs quantum dots

The electron energy levels, direct energy band gaps, electron and hole effective masses as well as the transverse effective charge of InAs spherically shaped quantum dots have been studied as a function of the quantum dot radius considered as varying from 1 to 10 nm. The direct energy band-gap as well as the electron and heavy hole effective masses decrease non-linearly with increasing the quantum dot radius. Nevertheless, the transverse effective charge is found to increase with increasing the quantum dot radius. It is concluded that the quantum confinement has a strong influence on all the studied physical quantities for quantum dot radius below 6 nm. The results of the present contribution show that more opportunities can be offered to tailor desired optoelectronic properties surpassing those presented by bulk InAs materials.