Optically gated resonant emission of single quantum dots

We report on the resonant emission in coherently driven single semiconductor quantum dots. We demonstrate that an ultraweak nonresonant laser acts as an optical gate for the quantum dot resonant response. We show that the gate laser suppresses Coulomb blockade at the origin of a resonant emission quenching, and that the optically gated quantum dots systematically behave as ideal two-level systems in both regimes of coherent and incoherent resonant emission.     

Coherent control of the quasi-elastic resonant secondary emission: Semiconductor quantum dots

A detailed theoretical study of the time-integrated signal of spontaneous quasi-elastic secondary emission excited by a pair of phase-locked pulses has shown that coherent control is a promising method for measuring the total dephasing rate of a resonant optical transition. This method may be used to study both the homogeneously and inhomogeneously broadened systems, which is highly important in studies of semiconductor quantum dots. Analysis of components of the secondary emission in the framework of the developed theory has allowed us to find a physically justified criterion for separating the scattering and luminescence signals. The role of spectral filtering of the measured signal in determination of the phase and energy relaxation parameters is elucidated.     

Tuning photoresponse through size distribution control of silicon quantum dots

We report a detailed experimental and theoretical investigation on the photocurrent characteristics of nanocrystalline Si thin films, with the emphasis on the effect of Si dot size distribution. Broader photocurrent response has been observed in Si quantum dots with larger size dispersion due to the improvement of light harvest. As a result of tunneling loss in the expanded energy distribution, we have demonstrated that there is a tradeoff between the absorption enhancement and reduced transport for the photocurrent intensity. The present work opens new strategy to maximize the photoresponse through size distribution control for quantum dot solar cell application.     

微腔增强发射的半导体量子点单光子源

单光子源是实现量子密匙分配、线性光学量子计算的基本单元。作者回顾了单光子源在量子信息科学发展中的作用,讨论了光子的统计特性,分析了具有类似原子二能级结构的半导体量子点作为单光子发射源的特点,介绍了微腔与二能级系统的耦合以及微腔量子电动力学基本原理。在弱耦合区,Purcell效应导致微腔中量子点激子复合寿命降低,因此可用微腔来改善量子点单光子发射效率。文章总结了近年来在半导体微腔增强量子点单光子发射领域的进展,探讨了分布式布拉格反射微腔、柱状微腔和光子晶体微腔等结构对改善半导体量子点单光子发射和收集效率、光子极化以及光子全同性等方面的作用,并对未来半导体量子点单光子源的发展进行了展望。     

Activation of silicon quantum dots for emission

The emission of silicon quantum dots is weak when their surface is passivated well. Oxygen or nitrogen on the surface of silicon quantum dots can break the passivation to form localized electronic states in the band gap to generate active centers where stronger emission occurs. From this point of view, we can build up radiative matter for emission. Emissions of various wavelengths can be obtained by controlling the surface bonds of silicon quantum dots. Our experimental results demonstrate that annealing is important in the treatment of the activation, and stimulated emissions at about 600 and 700 nm take place on active silicon quantum dots.     

Temperature dependent single photon emission in InP/GaInP quantum dots

Intensity correlation measurements on single InP/GaInP quantum dots (QDs) show antibunching at zero delay time, indicative of single photon emission. The antibunching time τ_R increases or decreases with temperature depending on the QD size as a result of the competition between: (1) thermal excitation of holes dominant in smaller QDs and (2) dark-to-bright exciton transition dominant in larger QDs. The antibunching minimum g⁽²⁾(0) remains below 0.2 up to 45 K.     

Coherent control of optical-phonon-assisted resonance secondary emission in semiconductor quantum dots

A new optical effect, the coherent control of spontaneous secondary emission with the participation of optical phonons in systems with discrete spectra of electronic transitions, is studied theoretically. Analytical formulas are obtained that describe the time-integrated signals of secondary emission excited resonantly by a pair of phase-locked pulses in the homogeneously and inhomogeneously broadened systems of semiconductor quantum dots. It is shown that coherent control is a promising method for measuring the total dephasing rates of a resonance optical transition. A physically justified criterion for discriminating between scattering and luminescence in the secondary emission is found. The role of spectral filtering of the signal in the measurements of phase and energy relaxation parameters is elucidated.     

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.     

Tuning energy transfer efficiency in quantum dots mixture by controling donor/acceptor ratio

Improving the emission performance of colloidal quantum dots (QDs) is of paramount importance for their applications on light-emitting diodes (LEDs), displays and lasers. A highly promising approach is to tune the carrier recombination channels and lifetime by exploiting the energy transfer process. However, to achieve this precise emission optimization, quantitative modulation on energy transfer efficiency is highly desirable but still challenging. Here, we demonstrate a convenient approach to realize tunable energy transfer efficiency by forming QDs mixture with controllable donor/acceptor (D/A) ratio. With the mixing ratio ranging from 16/1 to 1/16, the energy transfer efficiency could be effectively tuned from near zero to ~70%. For the high mixing ratio of 16/1, acceptors obtain adequate energy supplied by closely surrounding donors, leading to~2.4-fold PL enhancement. While for the low mixing ratio, the ultrafast and efficient energy extraction process directly suppresses the multi-exciton and Auger recombination in the donor, bringing about a higher threshold. The facile modulation of emission performance by controllably designed mixing ratio and quantitatively tunable energy transfer efficiency will facilitate QD-based optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications.     

Tuning optical properties of water-soluble CdTe quantum dots for biological applications

In this study, two different synthetic methods in aqueous solution are presented to tune the optical properties of CdTe and CdSe semiconductor nanoparticles. Additionally, the influence of different temperatures, pressures, precursor ratios, surface ligands, bases, and core components in the synthesis was investigated with regard to the particle sizes and optical properties. As a result, a red shift of the emission and absorption maxima with increasing reaction temperature (100 to 220°C), pressure (1 to 25 bar), and different ratios of core components of alloyed semiconductor nanoparticles could be observed without a change of the particle size. An increase in particle size from 2.5 to 5 nm was only achieved by variation of the mercaptocarboxylic acid ligands in combination with the reaction time and used base. To get a first hint on the cytotoxic effects and cell uptake of the synthesized quantum dots, in vitro tests mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were carried out.

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Photoluminescence of single quantum wires and quantum dots

The results of a study into the photoluminescence spectra of a set of quantum dots based on GaAs enclosed in AlGaAs nanowires are presented. The steady state and time resolved spectra of photoluminescence under optical excitation both from an array of quantum wires/dots and a single quantum wire/dot have been measured. In the photoluminescence spectra of single quantum dots, emission lines of excitons, biexcitons and tritons have been found. The binding energy of the biexciton in the studied structures was deduced to be 8 meV.     

InAs/GaAs量子点1.3 μm单光子发射特性

采用双层耦合量子点的分子束外延生长技术生长了InAs/GaAs量子点样品,把量子点的发光波长成功地拓展到1.3 μm.采用光刻的工艺制备了直径为3 μm的柱状微腔,提高了量子点荧光的提取效率.在低温5 K下,测量得到量子点激子的荧光寿命约为1 ns;单量子点荧光二阶关联函数为0.015,显示单量子点荧光具有非常好的单光子特性;利用迈克耳孙干涉装置测量得到单光子的相干时间为22 ps,对应的谱线半高全宽度为30 μeV,且荧光谱线的线型为非均匀展宽的高斯线型.     

Dynamics of single InGaN quantum dots

Decay dynamics for single InGaN quantum dots are presented using time-resolved photoluminescence. The recombination is shown to be characterized by a single exponential decay, in contrast to the non-exponential recombination dynamics seen in the 2D wetting layer. The lifetimes of single dots in the temperature range 4–60 K decrease with increasing temperature. Different dots show similar lifetimes of 2 ns.     

Anisotropic emission of interface fluctuation quantum dots

We calculate energy levels, dipole moments and radiative broadening of interface fluctuation quantum dots. For optically allowed states, the dipole moment grows proportionally to the lateral quantum dot radius while the radiative broadening saturates towards the quantum well radiative broadening for large lateral quantum dot radii. This is accompanied by a change in the angular emission pattern, concentrating emission in forward and backward direction. Optically forbidden states do not couple to light propagating in the growth direction yet they may have a considerable radiative broadening due to spontaneous emission in other directions. Received 20 March 2002 Published online 25 June 2002     

Optical control of coherent interactions between electron spins in InGaAs quantum dots

Coherent interactions between spins in quantum dots are a key requirement for quantum gates. We have performed pump-probe experiments in which pulsed lasers emitting at different photon energies manipulate two distinct subsets of electron spins within an inhomogeneous InGaAs quantum dot ensemble. The spin dynamics are monitored through their precession about an external magnetic field. These measurements demonstrate spin precession phase shifts and modulations of the magnitude of one subset of oriented spins after optical orientation of the second subset. The observations are consistent with results from a model using a Heisenberg-like interaction with μeV strength.     

Intermediate intensity levels during the emission intermittency of single CdSe/ZnS quantum dots

We report on an intermediate intensity level in the emission intermittency of single CdSe/ZnS core shell quantum dots, which has been overlooked in previous experiments most likely due to its low quantum efficiency. The intermediate intensity level is observed in CdSe/ZnS quantum dots of large diameter (about 5 nm diameter) and appears to be independent of the general dark state power law dynamics. The dim emission periods are found to be exponentially distributed and thus correspond to similar findings in CdSe/CdS quantum dots, where their existence has been interpreted in terms of the emission of a positively charged trion.     

Controlling the spontaneous emission rate of single quantum dots in a two-dimensional photonic crystal

We observe large spontaneous emission rate modification of individual InAs quantum dots (QDs) in a 2D photonic crystal with a modified, high-Q single-defect cavity. Compared to QDs in a bulk semiconductor, QDs that are resonant with the cavity show an emission rate increase of up to a factor of 8. In contrast, off-resonant QDs indicate up to fivefold rate quenching as the local density of optical states is diminished in the photonic crystal. In both cases, we demonstrate photon antibunching, showing that the structure represents an on-demand single photon source with a pulse duration from 210 ps to 8 ns. We explain the suppression of QD emission rate using finite difference time domain simulations and find good agreement with experiment.     

Size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single InAs/GaAs quantum dots

This paper studies the size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single quantum dots (QDs) by using atomic force microscopy and micro-photoluminescence measurements. It finds that the biexciton binding energies in the QDs show ``binding' and ``antibinding' properties which correspond to the large and small sizes of QDs, respectively. The experimental results can be well interpreted by the biexciton potential curve, calculated from the exciton molecular model and the Heitler--London method.     

Optimal control strategies for coupled quantum dots

Semiconductor quantum dots are ideal candidates for quantum information applications in solid-state technology. However, advanced theoretical and experimental tools are required to coherently control, for example, the electronic charge in these systems. Here we demonstrate how quantum optimal control theory provides a powerful way to manipulate the electronic structure of coupled quantum dots with an extremely high fidelity. As alternative control fields we apply both laser pulses as well as electric gates, respectively. We focus on double and triple quantum dots containing a single electron or two electrons interacting via Coulomb repulsion. In the two-electron situation we also briefly demonstrate the challenges of timedependent density-functional theory within the adiabatic local-density approximation to produce comparable results with the numerically exact approach.     

Evaluation of electron--electron interactions in coupled quantum dots by using far-infrared spectra

We have studied the far-infrared spectra of two-electron vertically coupled quantum dots in an axial magnetic field by exact diagonalization. The calculated results show an obvious difference in role between the interactions for spin S = 1 and for spin S = O. The results support the possibility to evaluate the interactions by far-infrared spectroscopy in vertically coupled quantum dots.