Dephasing in quantum dots: quadratic coupling to acoustic phonons

A microscopic theory of optical transitions in quantum dots with a carrier-phonon interaction is developed. Virtual transitions into higher confined states with acoustic phonon assistance add a quadratic phonon coupling to the standard linear one, thus extending the independent boson model. Summing infinitely many diagrams in the cumulant, a numerically exact solution for the interband polarization is found. Its full time dependence and the absorption line shape of the quantum dot are calculated. It is the quadratic interaction which gives rise to a temperature-dependent broadening of the zero-phonon line, calculated here for the first time in a consistent scheme.     

Quantum Hall ferrimagnetism in lateral quantum dot molecules

We demonstrate the existence of ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic phases in a spin phase diagram of coupled lateral quantum dot molecules in the quantum Hall regime. The spin phase diagram is determined from the Hartree-Fock configuration interaction method as a function of electron number N and magnetic field B. The quantum Hall ferrimagnetic phase corresponds to spatially imbalanced spin droplets resulting from strong interdot coupling of identical dots. The quantum Hall ferromagnetic phases correspond to ferromagnetic coupling of spin polarization at filling factors between nu=2 and nu=1.     

Photon-assisted electronic structure and transport for a quantum dot

This paper investigates theoretically the electronic structure and transport of a two-level quantum dot irradiated under a strong laser field at low temperatures. Using the method of Keldysh equation of motion for nonequilibrium Green functions, it examines the time-averaged density of states and conductance for the system with photon polarization parallel with and perpendicular to the tunnelling current direction respectively. It is demonstrated that, by analysing some numerical examples, more photon sidebands resonance states and multi- and single-photon transitions are found when diagonal matrix elements dominate the interaction, while the electronic transitions due to multiphoton absorption are more or less suppressed when off-diagonal interaction dominates.     

On the possibility of the dynamic self-polarization of nuclear spins in a quantum dot

The possibility of self-polarization of nuclear spins predicted by M.I. D’yakonov and V.I. Perel’ (JETP Lett. 16, 398 (1972)) has been investigated in the case of the electric current passing through a single quantum dot. The mechanisms of nuclear spin relaxation in the quantum dot leading to the polarization and depolarization of the nuclei are discussed. To make the nuclear polarization possible, it has been proposed to increase the nuclear polarization rate via the interaction of an electron localized in the quantum dot with electromagnetic oscillations in an electric circuit, whose proper frequency is tuned to a resonance with the Zeeman splitting of an electron level in the quantum dot.     

Measurement of a heavy-hole hyperfine interaction in InGaAs quantum dots using resonance fluorescence

We measure the strength and the sign of hyperfine interaction of a heavy hole with nuclear spins in single self-assembled quantum dots. Our experiments utilize the locking of a quantum dot resonance to an incident laser frequency to generate nuclear spin polarization. By monitoring the resulting Overhauser shift of optical transitions that are split either by electron or exciton Zeeman energy with respect to the locked transition using resonance fluorescence, we find that the ratio of the heavy-hole and electron hyperfine interactions is -0.09 ± 0.02 in three quantum dots. Since hyperfine interactions constitute the principal decoherence source for spin qubits, we expect our results to be important for efforts aimed at using heavy-hole spins in quantum information processing.     

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).     

Optimal control of a charge qubit in a double quantum dot with a Coulomb impurity

We study the efficiency of modulated external electric pulses to produce efficient and fast charge localization transitions in a two-electron double quantum dot. We use a configuration interaction method to calculate the electronic structure of a quantum dot model within the effective mass approximation. The interaction with the electric field is considered within the dipole approximation and optimal control theory is applied to design high-fidelity ultrafast pulses in pristine samples. We assessed the influence of the presence of Coulomb charged impurities on the efficiency and speed of the pulses. A protocol based on a two-step optimization is proposed for preserving both advantages of the original pulse. The processes affecting the charge localization is explained from the dipole transitions of the lowest lying two-electron states, as described by a discrete model with an effective electron-electron interaction.     

Stabilization of the electron-nuclear spin orientation in quantum dots by the nuclear quadrupole interaction

The nuclear quadrupole interaction eliminates the restrictions imposed by hyperfine interaction on the spin coherence of an electron and nuclei in a quantum dot. The strain-induced nuclear quadrupole interaction suppresses the nuclear spin flip and makes possible the zero-field dynamic nuclear polarization in self-organized InP/InGaP quantum dots. The direction of the effective nuclear magnetic field is fixed in space, thus quenching the magnetic depolarization of the electron spin in the quantum dot. The quadrupole interaction suppresses the zero-field electron spin decoherence also for the case of nonpolarized nuclei. These results provide a new vision of the role of the nuclear quadrupole interaction in nanostructures: it elongates the spin memory of the electron-nuclear system.     

Observation of dressed excitonic states in a single quantum dot

We report the observation of dressed states of a quantum dot. The optically excited exciton and biexciton states of the quantum dot are coupled by a strong laser field and the resulting spectral signatures are measured using differential transmission of a probe field. We demonstrate that the anisotropic electron-hole exchange interaction induced splitting between the x- and y-polarized excitonic states can be completely erased by using the ac-Stark effect induced by the coupling field, without causing any appreciable broadening of the spectral lines. We also show that by varying the polarization and strength of a resonant coupling field, we can effectively change the polarization axis of the quantum dot.     

Rashba-induced transverse pure spin currents in a four-terminal quantum dot ring

By applying a local Rashba spin–orbit interaction to an individual quantum dot of a four-terminal four-quantum-dot ring and introducing a finite bias between the longitudinal terminals, we theoretically investigate the charge and spin currents in the transverse terminals. It is found that when the quantum dot levels are separate from the chemical potentials of the transverse terminals, notable pure spin currents appear in the transverse terminals with the same amplitude but opposite polarization directions. In addition, the polarization directions of such pure spin currents can be inverted by altering the structure parameters, i.e., the magnetic flux, the bias voltage, and the values of quantum dot levels with respect to the chemical potentials of the transverse terminals.     

Transport spectroscopy of Kondo quantum dots coupled by RKKY interaction

We develop the theory of conductance of a quantum dot which carries a spin and is coupled via RKKY interaction to another spin-carrying quantum dot. The found dependence of the differential conductance on the bias and magnetic field at a fixed RKKY interaction strength may allow one to distinguish between the possible ground states of the system. Transitions between the ground states are achieved by tuning the RKKY interaction, and the nature of these transitions can be extracted from the temperature dependence of the linear conductance. The feasibility of the corresponding measurements is evidenced by recent experiments by Craig et al.     

Electronic states of quantum dots: beyond the 2D parabolic model

The quantum states of interacting electrons in a quantum dot in a magnetic field are calculated and the effects of corrections to the 2D parabolic model are examined. The quantum states are obtained by a new method which involves three steps: first the electrostatic potential of the device is obtained from a solution of the Poisson equation, next this potential is used together with a combination of variational and Hartree–Fock calculations to obtain an orthogonal basis whose low-lying states are localised in the region of the dot and finally this basis is used to perform an exact diagonalization. Special attention is paid to the effect of motion perpendicular to the ideal 2D plane and the effect of screening of the Coulomb interaction by metallic electrodes close to the dot. Both effects result in a weakened effective interaction and increase the magnetic fields at which ground-state transitions occur.     

Quantum light emission of two lateral tunnel-coupled (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots controlled by a tunable static electric field

Lateral quantum coupling between two self-assembled (In,Ga)As quantum dots has been observed. Photon statistics measurements between the various excitonic and biexcitonic transitions of these lateral quantum dot molecules display strong antibunching confirming the presence of coupling. Furthermore, we observe an anomalous exciton Stark shift with respect to static electric field. A simple model indicates that the lateral coupling is due to electron tunneling between the dots when the ground states are in resonance. The electron probability can then be shifted to either dot and the system can be used to create a wavelength-tunable single-photon emitter by simply applying a voltage.     

TE- and TM-polarization-resolved spectroscopy on quantum wells under normal incidence

We present TE- and TM-polarization-resolved photocurrent measurements on quantum well pin diodes under normal incidence. Usually, optical experiments performed in such a geometry yield information only about transitions involving in-plane (p_x and p_y) components of the hole wave functions because of the in-plane (TE) polarization of the light. Information on transitions sensitive to the p_z components can be obtained by focussing a radially polarized laser beam through a microscope objective with high numerical aperture (NA=0.9). With our setup, the electrical field vector at the focal tail has a significant component along the optical axis (TM-polarization!) which enables excitation of transitions sensitive to p_z components also. Additionally, the existence of a degenerate (azimuthally polarized) optical mode enables switching these p_z components on and off easily.Experimental evidence of these features has been achieved by exploiting the selection rules for e–hh and e–lh transitions in a quantum well structure. We present a comparison of our recorded spectra with theoretical predictions obtained from simple geometric optics assumptions. For our quantum wells the polarization effects are small because our measurement averages the intensity distribution of the whole focal plane. We plan to extend our measurements to polarization resolved single quantum dot spectroscopy. By restricting the detection region to the spatial extent of a single dot, one can exploit the almost pure TM-polarization on the optical axis for obtaining high contrast between heavy- and light-hole exciton absorption.     

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.     

Magnetic field and symmetry effects in small quantum dots

Shell phenomena in small quantum dots with a few electrons under a perpendicular magnetic field are discussed within a simple model. It is shown that various kinds of shell structures, which occur at specific values for the magnetic field lead to a disappearance of the orbital magnetization for particular magic numbers for noninteracting electrons in small quantum dots. Including the Coulomb interaction between two electrons, we found that the magnetic field gives rise to dynamical symmetries of a three-dimensional axially symmetric two-electron quantum dot with a parabolic confinement. These symmetries manifest themselves as near-degeneracy in the quantum spectrum at specific values of the magnetic field and are robust at any strength of the electron-electron interaction. A remarkable agreement between experimental data and calculations exhibits the important role of the thickness for the two-electron quantum dot for analysis of ground state transitions in a perpendicular magnetic field. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

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.     

Photocurrent and spin manipulation in quantum dots

In this paper we use a density matrix formalism to model the spin photocurrent obtained from a single self-assembled quantum dot photodiode under the influence of an applied strong polarized electromagnetic pulse and a gate voltage. We show that the degree of polarization of the output photocurrent generated by a circularly polarized pulse in a strongly anisotropic quantum dot can be switched as we increase the pulse intensity. A similar effect is observed in a quantum dot with weak anisotropic electron–hole exchange interaction by using an elliptically polarized pulse. In the latter, a shorter pulse is needed, which creates an effective exchange channel through the biexciton. This phenomenon can be used as a dynamical switch to invert the spin-polarization of the extracted current.     

T型双量子点分子Aharonov-Bohm干涉仪的电输运

利用非平衡格林函数方法, 理论研究T型双量子点分子Aharonov-Bohm (A-B)干涉仪的电荷及其自旋输运性质. 通过控制T型双量子点分子内量子点间有无耦合, 能够实现在同一电子能级位置处分别出现共振和反共振状态, 根据此性质, 能将体系设计成量子开关器件. 当将两个完全相同的T型双量子点分子分别嵌入A-B干涉仪两臂中时, 磁通取适当数值, 能够出现完全的量子相消干涉. 通过调节量子点能级、左右两电极间的偏压和Rashba自旋轨道相互作用强度, 可对体系自旋流进行调控. 关键词： 非平衡格林函数 T型双量子点分子 Aharonov-Bohm干涉仪 自旋输运     

Donor-impurity related binding energy and photoinization cross-section in quantum dots: electric and magnetic fields and hydrostatic pressure effects

We have studied the behavior of the binding energy and photoionization cross-section of a donor-impurity in cylindrical-shape GaAs-Ga_0.7Al_0.3As quantum dots, under the effects of hydrostatic pressure and in-growth direction applied electric and magnetic fields. We have used the variational method under the effective mass and parabolic band approximations. Parallel and perpendicular polarizations of the incident radiation and several values of the quantum dot geometry have also been considered. Our results show that the photoionization cross-section growths as the hydrostatic pressure is increased. For parallel polarization of the incident radiation, the photoionization cross-section decreases when the impurity is shifted from the center of the dot. In the case of perpendicular polarization of the incident radiation, the photoionization cross-section increases when the impurity is shifted in the radial direction of the dot. For on-axis impurities the transitions between the ground state of the impurity and the ground state of the quantum dot are forbidden. In the low pressure regime (less than 13.5 kbar) the impurity binding energy growths linearly with pressure, and in the high pressure regime (higher than 13.5 kbar) the binding energy growths up to a maximum and then decreases. Additionally, we have found that the applied electric and magnetic fields may favor the increase or decrease in binding energy, depending on the impurity position.