Fine structure of excitonic levels in quantum dots

The experimental results of a study of the fine structure of the levels of excitons localized in InAlAs quantum dots in an AlGaAs matrix are reported. Transformations from optical orientation to alignment and from alignment to orientation, which occur due to the exchange splitting of a dipole-active excitonic doublet and are allowed by the low symmetry of a quantum dot, are observed in a longitudinal magnetic field (Faraday geometry). A comparison of theory with experiment for a self-organized ensemble of quantum dots enables a determination of the character of the distribution over the dipole orientations for resonance optical transitions. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 10, 766–771 (25 May 1997)     

Optical orientation and alignment of excitons in quantum dots

Optical orientation and alignment of excitons in InAlAs quantum dots in the AlGaAs matrix have been studied both theoretically and experimentally. Experiments performed in a longitudinal magnetic field (Faraday geometry) reveal transformation of optical orientation to alignment and alignment to orientation, which is caused by exchange splitting of the dipole-active exciton doublet and allowed by the quantum-dot low symmetry. A comparison of theory with experiment made with inclusion of the anisotropy of exciton generation and recombination along the and [110] axes permits one to determine the character of dipole distribution in direction for resonant optical transitions in the self-organized quantum-dot ensemble studied. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 858–861 (May 1998)     

Energy relaxation and transport of indirect excitons in AlAs/GaAs coupled quantum wells in magnetic field

The evolution of indirect exciton luminescence in AlAs/GaAs coupled quantum wells after excitation by pulsed laser radiation has been studied in strong magnetic fields (B⩽12 T) at low temperatures (T⩾1.3 K), both in the normal regime and under conditions of anomalously fast exciton transport, which is an indication of the onset of exciton superfluidity. The energy relaxation rate of indirect excitons measured in the range of relaxation times between several and several hundreds of nanoseconds is found to be controlled by the properties of the exciton transport, specifically, this parameter increases with the coefficient of excitonic diffusion. This behavior is qualitatively explained in terms of migration of excitons between local minima of the random potential in the plane of the quantum well. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 1115–1120 (September 1998)     

Direct and spatially indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices in strong magnetic fields

Luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra are used to study the energy spectrum and binding energies of direct and spatially indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices having different electron and hole miniband widths in high magnetic fields perpendicular to the heterolayers. The ground state of the indirect excitons formed by electrons and holes which are spatially distributed among neighboring quantum wells is found to lie between the ground 1s state of the direct excitons and the threshold of the continuum of dissociated exciton states in the minibands. The indirect excitons have a substantial oscillator strength when the binding energy of the exciton exceeds the scale of the width of the resulting miniband. It is shown that a high magnetic field shifts a system of symmetrically bound quantum wells toward weaker bonding. At high exciton concentrations, spatially indirect excitons are converted into direct excitons through exciton-exciton collisions. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 833–836 (May 1998)     

Toward a theory of light absorption by excitons in quantum-well structures

A theory of light absorption by excitons in periodic structures with an arbitrary number of quantum wells is constructed. It is shown that the temperature dependence of the frequency-integrated absorption characteristics is due to a competition between the processes of dissipative decay of quasi-two-dimensional excitons and the light-exciton interaction. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 824–826 (May 1998)     

Anomalous behavior of excitons at light holes in strained (In, Ga)As/GaAs heterostructures

Additional localization of holes due to Coulomb attraction to the electron located in a quantum well is important for light-hole excitons in the heterostructure (In, Ga)As/GaAs. The fine structure of the optical and magneto-optical spectra of these quantum wells is examined in detail with the formation of a “Coulomb well” and deformations taken into account. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 797–799 (May 1998)     

Exciton-exciton collisions and conversion of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices

The ratio of the densities of intra-and interwell excitons in a symmetric system of coupled quantum wells — a superlattice based on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure — is investigated over a wide range of optical excitation power densities. Conversion of interwell excitons into intrawell excitons as a result of exciton-exciton collisions is observed at high exciton densities. Direct evidence for such a conversion mechanism is the square-root dependence of the interwell exciton density on the optical excitation level. The decrease in the lifetime of interwell excitons with increasing excitation density, as measured directly by time-resolved spectroscopy methods, confirms the explanation proposed for the effect. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 8, 623–628 (25 April 1997)     

Magnetic excitons in near-surface quantum wells: Experiment and theory

We have measured the photoluminescence spectra and photoluminescence excitation spectra of magnetic excitons in InGaAs/GaAs near-surface quantum wells in a magnetic field. We have quantitatively investigated the effect of dielectric enhancement of excitons in quantum wells brought about by decreasing the thickness of the barrier layer, both in a magnetic field and without. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 806–808 (May 1998)     

Kinetics of indirect photoluminescence in GaAs/AlxGa1−x As double quantum wells in a random potential with a large amplitude

The kinetics of indirect photoluminescence of GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As double quantum wells, characterized by a random potential with a large amplitude (the linewidth of the indirect photoluminescence is comparable to the binding energy of an indirect exciton) in magnetic fields B≤12 T at low temperatures T≥1.3 K is investigated. It is found that the indirect-recombination time increases with the magnetic field and decreases with increasing temperature. It is shown that the kinetics of indirect photoluminescence corresponds to single-exciton recombination in the presence of a random potential in the plane of the double quantum wells. The variation of the nonradiative recombination time is discussed in terms of the variation of the transport of indirect excitons to nonradiative recombination centers, and the variation of the radiative recombination time is discussed in terms of the variation of the population of optically active excitonic states and the localization radius of indirect excitons. The photoluminescence kinetics of indirect excitons, which is observed in the studied GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As double quantum wells for which the random potential has a large amplitude, is qualitatively different from the photoluminescence kinetics of indirect excitons in AlAs/GaAs wells and GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As double quantum wells with a random potential having a small amplitude. The temporal evolution of the photoluminescence spectra in the direct and indirect regimes is studied. It is shown that the evolution of the photoluminescence spectra corresponds to excitonic recombination in a random potential. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 1890–1905 (May 1999)     

Direct and spatially indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices in strong magnetic fields

Luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra are used to study the energy spectrum and binding energies of direct and spatially indirect excitons in GaAs/AlaAs superlattices, with different widths of the electron and hole minibands, located in a high magnetic field perpendicular to the heterolayers. It is found that the ground state of the indirect excitons formed by electrons and holes and spatially separated between neighboring quantum wells lies between the ls ground state of the direct excitons and the continuum threshold for dissociated exciton states in the minibands. Indirect excitons in superlattices have a significant oscillator strength when the binding energy of the exciton exceeds the order of the width of the resulting miniband. The behavior of the binding energy of direct and indirect heavy hole excitons during changes in the tunneling coupling between the quantum wells is established. It is shown that a strong magnetic field, which intensifies the Coulomb interaction between the electron and hole in an exciton, weakens the bond in a system of symmetrically bound quantum wells. The spatially indirect excitons studied here are analogous to first order Wannier-Stark localized excitons in superlattices with inclined bands (when an electrical bias is applied), but in the present case the localization is of purely Coulomb origin. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 1106–1118 (September 1997)     

Luminescence of self-trapped excitons in calcium fluoride under pulsed electron irradiation

Time-resolved pulsed spectroscopy was used to measure the luminescence spectra of calcium fluoride. Characteristic features of the luminescence of self-trapped excitons are discussed. It is shown that various configurations of self-trapped excitons incorporating hole nuclei of a more complex structure, may be formed in CaF₂ crystals. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1226–1227 (July 1998)     

Effect of the anticrossing of excitonic states on their phase relaxation time in a GaAs/AlGaAs symmetric double quantum well

The change in the properties of excitonic states near anticrossing is investigated experimentally. It is shown that the phase relaxation time of light excitons in a GaAs/AlGaAs symmetric double quantum well increases by a factor of five as a result of mixing of the energy states of light and heavy excitons. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 69, No. 6, 426–430 (25 March 1999)     

Propagation of quasi-two dimensional exciton polaritons in a quantum well waveguide

The propagation of exciton polaritons in an optical waveguide with a quantum well is studied. Spatial dispersion of the excitons causes the wave vector of the exciton polaritons to split between waveguide and exciton modes at resonance. The magnitude of this splitting is determined by the radiative decay parameter of excitons with corresponding polarization in the quantum well. The group velocity of the waveguide exciton polaritons in the resonance region can be three or four orders of magnitude lower than the speed of light in vacuum. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 362–365 (February 1998)     

Interaction between the exciton and nuclear spin systems in a self-organized ensemble of InP/InGaP size-quantized islands

Magnetic interaction between spin-polarized nuclei and optically oriented excitons in a self-organized ensemble of size-quantized InP islands in an InGaP matrix has been studied in a magnetic field in Faraday geometry. The effective magnetic fields generated by polarized nuclei at excitons have been measured. The strengths of these fields were found to be different for active and inactive excitons because of the difference between the excitonic g factors. The heavy-hole g factor has been determined. The active and inactive excitonic states were found to be coupled through cross-relaxation. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 2193–2199 (December 1999)     

Hanle effect in an asymmetric CdTe/CdMnTe double quantum well

The observation of optical orientation of excitons and the Hanle effect in an asymmetric CdTe/CdMnTe double quantum well is reported. The characteristics of the magnetic depolarization of radiation from CdTe/CdMnTe quantum wells are discussed. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 4, 241–245 (25 February 1996)     

Exciton molecules and exciton liquids in semiconductors

Excitons in many-valley semiconductors form molecules consisting of four and more excitons. The degeneracy factor g of the conduction band in germanium is 8, and in silicon g=12. As in acceptors, the hole ground state in excitons is fourfold degenerate. The same is valid for exciton molecules, because they are quantum objects with spherical symmetry. The exciton binding energy in molecules is close to that in exciton-liquid droplets. Experimental evidence is considered for the existence, besides biexcitons, of stable exciton molecules consisting of three and four, and, possibly, 11 and 12 excitons. Molecules containing from five to ten excitons are apparently unstable. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 929–931 (May 1998)     

Excitonic effects in diluted magnetic semiconductor nanostructures

Excitonic properties and the dynamics are reported in quantum dots (QDs) and quantum wells (QW) of diluted magnetic semiconductors. Transient spectroscopies of photoluminescence and nonlinear-optical absorption and emission have been made on these quantum nanostructures. The Cd_1−x Mn_xSe QDs show the excitonic magnetic polaron effect with an increased binding energy. The quantum wells of the Cd_1−x Mn_xTe/ZnTe system display fast energy and dephasing relaxations of the free and localized excitons as well as the tunneling process of carriers and excitons in the QWs depending on the barrier widths. The observed dynamics and the enhanced excitonic effects are the inherent properties of the diluted magnetic nanostructures. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 846–848 (May 1998) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Influence of the formation of hot excitons on the quantum efficiency of short-wavelength photoelectric conversion in III–V semiconductors

A new excitonic mechanism for decreasing the quantum efficiency of the photoelectric conversion process in surface-barrier structures is considered. This mechanism involves the formation of hot excitons which have a large ionization energy and are not subject to the influence of the barrier electric field. The spectral dependence of the hot photocarrier losses is derived in an explicit form from experimental data on the basis of a previously proposed model and is analyzed. This dependence has two segments with abrupt increases, which are caused by the formation of excitons in the L and X valleys of the semiconductor. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 944–945 (May 1998)     

Features of the optical absorption of crystals of the fullerene C60 in the region of the orientational phase transition

The absorption coefficient of perfect single crystals of the fullerene C₆₀ is measured in the energy range 1.6–2.1 eV at temperatures from 4.2 to 300 K. An absorption fine structure is discovered in the and is assigned to electronic and vibronic transitions with the production of free excitons and excitons localized on structural defects. It is shown that in the region of the structural phase transition from a face-centered cubic structure to a simple cubic structure the absorption coefficient undergoes a jump, which is associated with an energy shift of the free exciton line toward lower energies. It is discovered that spatial inhomogeneity, which is associated with the growth of the new phase from a finite number of nuclei, appears in the crystal at the time of this transition. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 2211–2224 (December 1998)     

Nuclear spin nanomagnet in an optically excited quantum dot

Linearly polarized light tuned slightly below the optical transition of the negatively charged exciton (trion) in a single quantum dot causes the spontaneous nuclear spin polarization (self-polarization) at a level close to 100%. The effective magnetic field of spin-polarized nuclei shifts the optical transition energy close to resonance with photon energy. The resonantly enhanced Overhauser effect sustains the stability of the nuclear self-polarization even in the absence of spin polarization of the quantum dot electron. As a result the optically selected single quantum dot represents a tiny magnet with the ferromagnetic ordering of nuclear spins-the nuclear spin nanomagnet.