Investigation of populated InAs/GaAs quantum dots by photoluminescence and photoreflectance

We studied self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots by contrasting photoluminescence and photoreflectance spectra from 10 K to room temperature. The photoluminescence spectral profiles comprise contributions from four equally separated energy levels of InAs quantum dots. The emission profiles involving ground state and excited states have different temperature evolution. Abnormal spectral narrowing occurred above 200 K. In the photoreflectance spectra, major features corresponding to the InAs wetting layer and GaAs layers were observed. Temperature dependences of spectral intensities of these spectral features indicate that they originate from different photon-induced modulation mechanisms. Considering interband transitions of quantum dots were observed in photoluminescence spectra and those of wetting layer were observed in photoreflectance profiles, we propose that quantum dot states of the system are occupied up to the fourth energy level which is below the wetting layer quantum state.     

Investigation of interband optical transitions by near-resonant magneto-photoluminescence in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Resonant photoluminescence experiments performed on self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots under strong magnetic field up to 28 T give rise to an accurate determination of the interband magneto-optical transitions. As this technique minimizes the effect of the homogeneous broadening of the transitions due to the size and composition fluctuations of the dots, the experimental spectra display well-defined peaks. A good agreement is found between the experimental data and calculations using an effective mass model including the coupling between the mixed exciton-LO phonon states. Transitions involving excitonic polarons are clearly identified. Moreover, a light-hole to conduction transition is also evidenced in agreement with previous theoretical predictions.     

Self-assembled quantum dots: five years later

Self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) have been grown with good reproducibility by molecular beam epitaxy with up to five well-resolved zero-dimensional interband transitions measured by state-filling spectroscopy. The intersublevel energy spacing is shown to be readily tunable by adjusting the temperature of the substrate during the growth of the QDs and/or of the cap layer, or with post-growth annealing. The uniformity of InAs/GaAs QDs is optimized by studying the growth parameters affecting the equilibrium shape such as the amount of strain material deposited and the annealing time following the InAs deposition allowing the QDs ensemble to evolve. Such uniform QDs are also obtained for samples with multiple stacked layers. This allows us to study the effects of charged carriers, of tunneling between coupled QDs, of electrical injection, and of lasing in QDs with well-resolved excited states having adjustable intersublevel energy spacing.     

Electronic transport spectroscopy of carbon nanotubes in a magnetic field

We report magnetic field spectroscopy measurements in carbon nanotube quantum dots exhibiting fourfold shell structure in the energy level spectrum. The magnetic field induces a large splitting between the two orbital states of each shell, demonstrating their opposite magnetic moment and determining transitions in the spin and orbital configuration of the quantum dot ground state. We use inelastic cotunneling spectroscopy to accurately resolve the spin and orbital contributions to the magnetic moment. A small coupling is found between orbitals with opposite magnetic moment leading to anticrossing behavior at zero field.     

Continuous absorption background and decoherence in quantum dots

We consider theoretically the role of crossed transitions on the interband optical properties of quantum dots. These transitions, which involve one bound state and one delocalized state, are inherent to the joint nature of the valence-to-conduction density of states in quantum dots. We show that they play a crucial role both on the interband absorption and on the broadening of the quantum dot lines.     

Nonradiative relaxation processes in molecular crystals

Internal conversion is the dominant relaxation channel from higher lying excited states in molecular crystals and involves the transfer of energy from the electronic system to the lattice. In this work, we present results from simulations of the nonradiative relaxation process with an emphasis on both intra- and interband transitions. We find the internal conversion process to be strongly nonadiabatic and the associated relaxation time in the case of large energy excitations to be limited by the transitions made between states of different bands.     

Resonant quantum coherence of magnetization at excited states in nanospin systems with different crystal symmetries

The quantum interference effects induced by the Wess-Zumino term, or Berry phase are studied theoretically in resonant quantum coherence of the magnetization vector between degenerate states in nanometer-scale single-domain ferromagnets in the absence of an external magnetic field. We consider the magnetocrystalline anisotropy with trigonal, tetragonal and hexagonal crystal symmetry, respectively. By applying the periodic instanton method in the spin-coherent-state path integral, we evaluate the low-lying tunnel splittings between degenerate excited states of neighboring wells. And the low-lying energy level spectrum of mth excited state are obtained with the help of the Bloch theorem in one-dimensional periodic potential. The energy level spectrum and the thermodynamic properties of magnetic tunneling states are found to depend significantly on the total spins of ferromagnets at sufficiently low temperatures. Possible relevance to experiments is also discussed. Received 15 December 1999     

Photoluminescence structure of highly excited quantum dots of type II

The photoluminescence (PL) due to decay of exciton-like e–e–h complex X– (expected to appear for higher levels of activation) in electrically defined quantum dots of type II is analyzed within the Hartree approach for Gaussian confining potential, where the existence of metastable (against far-infrared interband dipole transitions) states is predicted, due to interplay of bare confinement with Coulomb interaction between the carriers. As we will show, when three-particle complexes (e–e–h) are taken into account, three PL peaks can occur at zero magnetic field, which further split into four peaks when external magnetic field is applied, which stands in a good correspondence with the experimental observations. The QD size and external magnetic field dependencies of the PL spectrum are analyzed, also finding good experimental confirmation.     

Electronic structure of semiconductor quantum dots: Interband transitions and selection rules

The energy spectrum and bound-bound interband transitions in semiconductor quantum dots are analysed within the effective mass approach. Interband bound-bound transition intensities are calculated and it is shown that the conventional l=const selection rule is slightly lifted when the refractive index nonuniformity of the structure is taken into account. Specifically, numerical calculations for a GaAs dot in Al_xGa_1−xAs matrix indicate that, along with fullyallowed transitions, some of l-nonconserving transitions may be detectable, as well.     

Effect of the anomalous dispersion on the optical characteristics of a quantum well

The frequency dependence of the optical characteristics of a quantum well (reflectance, transmittance, and absorbance) in the vicinity of the interband resonance transitions is studied for the case of two closely spaced excited levels. A wide quantum well in a strong magnetic field directed perpendicular to the surface of the quantum well and an incident monochromatic wave are considered. Allowances are made both for the difference in the refractive indices of the barriers and the quantum well and for the spatial dispersion of the light wave. It is shown that, at long radiative lifetimes of the excited states (as compared to the nonradiative lifetimes), the frequency dependence of the light reflectance near the resonance interband transitions is primarily determined by a curve similar to that of the anomalous dispersion of the refractive index. As the lifetimes level off, the contribution of this curve decreases and becomes negligible when the lifetime ratio reverses. It is also shown that the transmittance and absorbance of light do not exhibit a frequency dependence resembling the anomalous dispersion.     

Observation of transitions involving core-excited states in Ar III and Ar IV and high-lying singly excited states in Ar I–Ar IV

In this paper we present a comprehensive analysis of beam-foil and beam-gas excited spectrum of argon observed in small wavelength region, 2965–3090 Å, using Ar^+/2+ ions in the energy range 200–650 keV. The comparison of beam-foil spectrum (BFS) at different incident beam energy and with that of beam-gas spectrum (BGS), one can find solution for blending problem in beam-foil spectroscopy. Many new transitions were identified on the basis of calculated wavelength from the accurately known energy levels of Ar I, Ar II, Ar III and Ar V. The transitions of Ar I originate from highly excited states (10p to 17p and 10f to 17f). Based on TOPbase estimates using close-coupling approximation five transitions involving core-excited states and nine transitions originating from highly excited states in the spectrum of Ar III and Ar IV were also identified. Radiative life time of two core excited quintet states (3s3p⁴(⁴P)6d ⁵D and 3s3p⁴(⁴P)8f⁵F^o) of Ar III were measured and found to be in ‘good’ agreement with that of the calculated value using close-coupling approximation.     

Transient intraband light absorption by quantum dots: Pump-probe spectroscopy

We have developed a theory of a transient intraband light absorption by semiconductor quantum dots. This absorption plays an important role in the two-pulse pump-probe method, which enables determining the energy relaxation rates of electron-hole excited states. We have considered all possible schemes of this process wherein the carrier frequency of optical pump pulses is close to the resonance with the interband transition of the quantum-dot electronic subsystem, while the carrier frequency of probe pulses is resonant to the intraband transition. For ensembles of identical and size-distributed quantum dots, the probe pulse energy absorption induced by the pump pulse is analyzed in relation to the delay time between the pulses. We have found that, under certain conditions, this dependence can be described by a single, two, or three exponentials. The exponents of the exponentials are proportional to the energy relaxation rates of electron-hole excited states.     

Ground State Transitions in Vertically Coupled Four-Layer Single Electron Quantum Dots

We study a four-electron system in a vertically coupled four-layer quantum dot under a magnetic field by the exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian matrix. We find that discontinuous ground-state energy transitions are induced by an external magnetic field. We find that dot-dot distance and electron-electron interaction strongly affect the low-lying states of the coupled quantum dots. The inter-dot correlation leads to some sequences of possible disappearances of ground state transitions, which are present for uncoupled dots.     

Optical transitions of holes in uniaxially compressed germanium

Spontaneous emission and photoconductivity of germanium with gallium impurity are studied for determining the energy spectrum of hole states in this material in which radiation can be induced as a result of transitions of holes between these states. Holes were excited by electric field pulses with a strength up to 12 kV/cm at T = 4.2 K under uniaxial compression of samples up to 12 kbar. It has been found that hole emission spectra for transitions between resonant and local states of the impurity have a structure identical to the photoconductivity and absorption spectra. Transitions from resonance states, which are associated with the heavy hole subband, have not been detected. It has been found that in an electric field lower than 100 V/cm, a compressed crystal emits as a result of transitions of heavy holes. In a strong electric field (1–3 kV/cm), emission is observed in the energy range up to 140 meV, and transitions with emission of TA and LO phonons appear in such a field. The emission spectra under pressures of 0 and 12 kbar differ insignificantly. Hence, it follows that the contributions from heavy and light holes in a strong electric field are indistinguishable.     

Free electron laser study of the suppression of non-radiative scattering processes in semiconductors

A brief review is given of pump–probe studies of far infrared inter-sub-level relaxation between conduction band states in doped `quasi' quantum dots (created by the application of a magnetic field along the growth direction of an InAs/AlSb quantum well) and of mid-infrared (MIR) interband recombination in narrow gap semiconductors, using the free electron laser at FOM-Rijnhuizen (FELIX). In the former case, the longitudinal optic (LO) phonon scattering rate is shown to be suppressed by a factor of about 100 when the Landau level separation is off-resonance with the optical phonon energy; in the latter case, Auger recombination is shown to be substantially suppressed in the lead salts due to their `mirror' energy band structure.     

Optical absorption and electronic structure of intermetallic compound RuIn3

The optical properties of intermetallide RuIn₃ are investigated by ellipsometry in the spectral range of 0.22–10 μm. The experimental data point to the existence of an energy gap of about 0.5 eV in the electronic spectrum of the compound. The density of the electron states and interband optical conductivity are calculated in terms of the density functional theory. The experimental and theoretical spectra of the optical conductivity are compared. It is found that the formation of basic absorption bands is caused by interband transitions of electrons of the d-band of Ru and p-band of In.     

Collective electronically excited states of a uniform chain of atoms

Electronically excited states of finite uniform chains of atoms were considered taking into account the influence of the continuous energy spectrum. Traditional quantum-chemical methods for calculating two-electron transitions between neighboring chain atoms were combined with the asymptotic theory of interactions between excited atoms and neutral particles and the mathematical apparatus of the theory of multiple scattering for taking into account intercenter transitions in an ensemble of interacting centers. Recurrence equations for describing energy zones containing symmetrical and antisymmetric excited state levels of chains with an arbitrary length were obtained. Depending on system parameters, different modes of the distribution of the electron density of collective excited states were possible. At a certain ratio between level shifts and exchange integral values, excited states with a uniform electron density distribution over all chain nodes could form for certain solutions. This was a fortuitous circumstance caused by the influence of the continuous spectrum. Such states appeared at small principal quantum number n values, they were similar to one-electron excitations of the type of Frenkel excitons, when an electron was localized near its Coulomb center. These conditions were rapidly disturbed as n increased, and one-electron excitations of a linear molecule were formed in the system (that is, limiting excitations of the type of Wannier-Mott excitons did not form).     

Interband optical absorption in a strained CdxZn1−xO/ZnO quantum dot

Numerical calculations of the excitonic absorption spectra in a strained Cd_xZn_1−xO/ZnO quantum dot are investigated for various Cd contents. We calculate the quantized energies of the exciton as a function of dot radius for various confinement potentials and thereby the interband emission energy is computed considering the internal electric field induced by the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. The optical absorption as a function of photon energy for different dot radii is discussed. Decrease of exciton binding energy and the corresponding optical band gap with the Cd concentration imply that the confinement of carriers decreases with composition x. The main results show that the confined energies and the transition energies between the excited levels are significant for smaller dots. Non-linearity band gap with the increase in Cd content is observed for smaller dots in the strong confinement region and the magnitude of the absorption spectra increases for the transitions between the higher excited levels.