Electron spin beats in InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

Time-resolved picosecond spectroscopy is used for the first time to study optical orientation and spin dynamics of carriers in self-organized In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot (QD) arrays. Optical orientation of carriers created by 1.2 ps light pulses, both in the GaAs matrix and wetting layer, and captured by QDs is found to last a few hundreds of picosecond. The saturation of electron ground state at high-excitation-light intensity leads to electron polarization in excited states close to 100% and to its vanishing in ground state. Electron-spin quantum beats in a transverse magnetic field are observed for the first time in semiconductor QDs. We thus determine the quasi-zero-dimensional electron g factor in In_0.5Ga_0.5As/GaAs QDs to be: |g _⊥|=0.27±0.03. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 871–874 (May 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Electron dynamics in modulation p-doped InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

We investigate the electron dynamics of p-type modulation doped and undoped InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots using up-conversion photoluminescence at low temperature and room temperature. The rise time of the p-doped sample is significantly shorter than that of the undoped at low temperature. With increasing to room temperature the undoped sample exhibits a decreased rise time whilst that of the doped sample does not change. A relaxation mechanism of electron-hole scattering is proposed in which the doped quantum dots exhibit an enhanced and temperature independent relaxation due to excess built-in holes in the valence band of the quantum dots. In contrast, the rise time of the undoped quantum dots decreases significantly at room temperature due to the large availability of holes in the ground state of the valence band. Furthermore, modulation p-doping results in a shorter lifetime due to the presence of excess defects.     

Excitonic energy shell structure of self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

Performing optical spectroscopy of highly homogeneous quantum dot arrays in ultrahigh magnetic fields, an unprecedently well resolved Fock-Darwin spectrum is observed. The existence of up to four degenerate electronic shells is demonstrated where the magnetic field lifts the initial degeneracies, which reappear when levels with different angular momenta come into resonance. The resulting level shifting and crossing pattern also show evidence of many-body effects such as the mixing of configurations and exciton condensation at the resonances.     

Control of vertically coupled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots with electric fields

Controllable interactions that couple quantum dots are a key requirement in the search for scalable solid state implementations for quantum information technology. From optical studies of excitons and corresponding calculations, we demonstrate that an electric field on vertically coupled pairs of In(0.6)Ga(0.4)As/GaAs quantum dots controls the mixing of the exciton states on the two dots and also provides controllable coupling between carriers in the dots.     

Phonon-induced Rabi-frequency renormalization of optically driven single InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

We study optically driven Rabi rotations of a quantum dot exciton transition between 5 and 50 K, and for pulse areas of up to 14π. In a high driving field regime, the decay of the Rabi rotations is nonmonotonic, and the period decreases with pulse area and increases with temperature. By comparing the experiments to a weak-coupling model of the exciton-phonon interaction, we demonstrate that the observed renormalization of the Rabi frequency is induced by fluctuations in the bath of longitudinal acoustic phonons, an effect that is a phonon analogy of the Lamb shift.     

Microscopic approach to many-exciton complexes in self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

We present a numerical calculation of many-exciton complexes in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots. We apply continuum elasticity theory and atomistic valence-force-field method to calculate strain distribution, and make use of various methods, ranging from a quasi-atomistic tight-binding approach to the single-band effective-mass approximation, to obtain single-particle energy levels. The effect of strain is incorporated by the deformation potential theory. We expand multiexciton states in the basis of Slater determinants and solve the many-body problem by the configuration-interaction method. The dynamics of multiexcitons is studied by solving the rate equations, from which the excitation–power dependence of emission spectrum is obtained. The emission spectra calculated by the microscopic tight-binding approach are found to be in good agreement with those obtained by the simple effective-mass method.     

State-filling and magneto-photoluminescence of excited states in InGaAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We present the first radiative lifetime measurements and magneto-photoluminescence results of excited states in InGaAs/GaAs semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots. By increasing the photo-excitation intensity, excited state interband transitions up ton= 5 can be observed in the emission spectrum. The dynamics of the interband transitions and the inter-sublevel relaxation in these zero-dimensional energy levels lead to state-filling of the lower-energy states, allowing the quasi-Fermi level to be raised by more than 200 meV due to the combined large inter-sublevel spacing and the low density of states. The decay time of each energy level obtained under various excitation conditions is used to evaluate the inter-sublevel thermalization time. Finally, the emission spectrum of the dots filled with an average of about eight excitons is measured in magnetic fields up to 13 Tesla. The dependences of the spectrum as a function of carrier density and magnetic field are compared to calculations and interpreted in terms of coherent many-exciton states and their destruction by the magnetic field.     

Luminescence decay of broadband emission from CdS quantum dots

The stretched exponential photoluminescence decay of the energy-resolved broadband emission of purified and unpurified CdS quantum dots (QDs) made in reverse micelles is characterized as a function of photolysis time and thiol addition. Photolysis is found to proportionately increase both the lifetime and quantum yield of these QDs. This proportionality is consistent with a simple parallel channel model of the decay of the excited states. The ultimate QY of the purified sample is found to be as high as 24%, which is twice that previously reported for this preparation. At −70 °C both the QY and the lifetime increase by more than a factor of two, indicating that thermal quenching limits the QY at room temperature. Finally, the addition of alkanethiols is shown to red-shift and quench the emission while only modestly altering the lifetime. These thiolated QDs show an extremely large temperature dependence of QY, demonstrating stronger thermal quenching than the unfunctionalized QDs.     

Infrared-light propagation and storing through two lateral tunnel-coupled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

Dynamic propagation and storing-retrieving of a weak infrared (IR)-light pulse in a coupled semiconductor double-quantum-dot (SDQD) structure are studied theoretically with feasible parameters. Two characteristic features are found. First, it is shown that, with a constant control field, the SDQD medium is transparent to the probe pulse which propagates over sufficiently long distances. Furthermore, the pulse shape remains unchanged on propagation. Second, with a time-varying control field, we are able to store and retrieve the probe pulse in this four-subband SDQD medium by adiabatically switching off and on the control field. Such a four-subband SDQD system for storing and retrieving coherent information is much more practical than its atomic counterpart as a result of its flexible design and the controllable (tunable) interference strength and thus provides a new possibility for technological applications in quantum information science in the SDQD solid-state nanostructure.     

Entropies associated with electron emission from InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Entropies associated with the transition of electrons into and out of InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) are calculated by considering the temperature dependence of energy eigenvalues due to strain and energy band offset variations. It is found that, for InAs/GaAs quantum dots with base/height dimensions of 20/10 nm, the contribution from the surrounding lattice to entropy is smaller than for the temperature region below 100 K, where most measurements of thermal emission rates are performed. Including the electron degeneracy, the total entropy change has an upper limit of when releasing the first electron from the s-shell, while the second released s-electron is connected with an entropy change not larger than the absolute value of .     

Direct formation of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots during submonolayer epitaxies from molecular beams

Direct formation of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots is studied comparatively by Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Photoluminescence methods. It is found that submonolayer migration enhanced epitaxy growth mode allows a reduction in the dispersion of quantum dots size distribution as compared to submonolayer molecular beam epitaxy. In situ and ex situ results obtained are in agreement with each other and give a conceptual kinetic picture of the growth processes during epitaxy from molecular beams.     

Enhancement of GaAs/InGaAs quantum well emission by disordered gold nanoparticle arrays

Coupling effect of surface plasmon (SP) with InGaAs/GaAs QW emission is demonstrated experimentally. The SP resonance is generated by disordered arrays of Au nanodisks on the InGaAs/GaAs QW surface. More than twofold enhancement in QW PL is observed. Theoretical simulations also indicated that the disordered arrays of Au structures enlarged the cone angle for which light can be radiated out. The larger angle enhances the PL intensity.     

Emission and strain in InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells with InAs quantum dots obtained at different temperatures

The photoluminescence (PL), its temperature dependence and X ray diffraction (XRD) have been studied in the symmetric In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs quantum wells (QWs) with embedded InAs quantum dots (QDs), obtained with the variation of QD growth temperatures (470–535 °C). The increase of QD growth temperatures is accompanied by the enlargement of QD lateral sizes (from 12 up to 28 nm) and by the shift non monotonously of PL peak positions. The fitting procedure has been applied for the analysis of the temperature dependence of PL peaks. The obtained fitting parameters testify that in studied QD structures the process of In/Ga interdiffusion between QDs and capping/buffer layers takes place partially. However this process cannot explain the difference in PL peak positions.     

The emission wavelength tuning of InAs/InP quantum dots with thin GaAs, InGaAs, InP capping layers by MOCVD

InAs quantum dots (QDs) were grown on InP substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The width and height of the dots were 50 and 5.8 nm, respectively on the average and an areal density of 3.0×10¹⁰ cm⁻² was observed by atomic force microscopy before the capping process. The influences of GaAs, In_0.53Ga_0.47As, and InP capping layers (5–10 ML thickness) on the InAs/InP QDs were studied. Insertion of a thin GaAs capping layer on the QDs led to a blue shift of up to 146 meV of the photoluminescence (PL) peak and an InGaAs capping layer on the QDs led to a red shift of 64 meV relative to the case when a conventional InP capping layer was used. We were able to tune the emission wavelength of the InAs QDs from 1.43 to 1.89 μm by using the GaAs and InGaAs capping layers. In addition, the full-width at half-maximum of the PL peak decreased from 79 to 26 meV by inserting a 7.5 ML GaAs layer. It is believed that this technique is useful in tailoring the optical properties of the InAs QDs at mid-infrared regime.     

Inelastic scattering processes in GaAs/n-AlGaAs selectively doped heterojunctions with InGaAs quantum dots

Inelastic scattering processes of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in both normal and inverted n-AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction FET structures have been studied, for the case where InGaAs dots are embedded in the vicinity of GaAs channel. By analyzing the magnetoresistance data, the inelastic scattering time τ_in is determined as a function of the concentration N_2D of 2D electrons and shown to be reduced by 10–40% by the presence of InGaAs dots. By investigating a GaAs/n-AlGaAs inverted heterojunction FET with embedded InGaAs dots, we have varied the percentage P_oc of charged dots filled with an electron and found that τ_in decreases as P_oc increases, indicating that the inelastic scattering rate of 2DEG by charged dots is higher than that by the neutral ones.     

Photoexcited carrier dynamics in aligned InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown on strain-relaxed InGaAs layers

Carrier dynamics in aligned InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on cross-hatched patterns induced by metastable In_xGa_1−xAs layers have been studied by time-resolved photoluminescence. The low-temperature carrier lifetimes were found to be of the order of 100–200 ps and determined by carrier trapping and nonradiative recombination. Comparisons with control “nonaligned” InAs QDs show remarkable differences in dependence of peak PL intensities on excitation power, and in PL decay times dependences on both temperature and excitation intensities. Possible origin of traps, which determine the carrier lifetimes, is discussed.     

Photo-pumped lasing from low density self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots within a high-Q vertical cavity

A high-Q cavity containing three layers of self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots has been prepared. Emission occurs in the wavelength range 1275–1285 nm over the wafer surface. We have observed lasing thresholds in the power-in-versus-power-out characteristics, with associated changes in the angular emission profile, when the structure is optically pumped CW at 300 K. At high pump powers spectrally resolved lateral modes are seen in the emission spectra of a planar cavity and this is discussed in terms of the index change induced by the pump laser.     

Effect of deposition period on structural and optical properties of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots formed by InAs/GaAs short-period superlattices

Structural and optical properties of In_0.5Ga_0.5As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown at 510 °C by atomic layer molecular beam epitaxy technique are studied as a function of n repeated deposition of 1-ML-thick InAs and 1-ML-thick GaAs. Cross-sectional images reveal that the QDs are formed by single large QDs rather than closely stacked InAs QDs and their shape is trapezoidal. In the image, existence of wetting layers is not clear. In 300 K-photoluminescence (PL) spectra of InGaAs QDs (n=5), 4 peaks are resolved. Origin of each peak transition is discussed. Finally, it was found that the PL linewidths of atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) QDs were weakly sensitive to cryostat temperatures (16–300 K). This is attributed to the nature of ALE QDs; higher uniformity and weaker wetting effect compared to SK QDs.     

Isolation spectra for InGaAs/GaAs strained single quantum well laser diode optical switches

The spectral dependence of gain and loss for an InGaAs/GaAs strained single quantum well laser diode were measured. High gain and high isolation at the second quantized transition wavelength can be obtained with a low injection current. A strained single quantum well structure is suitable for construction of an integrated optical matrix switch with low power consumption.     

Partial intermixing of strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells

Shallow ion implantation and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was used to modify the optical properties of strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells (QWs). After RTA, QW exciton energies, determined from peak positions of the photoluminescence spectra, shifted significantly to higher energies in the implanted areas, whereas they remained basically unaffected in the unimplanted regions. The magnitudes of the energy shifts depend on the well width, RTA temperature and ion implantation fluence. The shifts were interpreted as arising from modification of the shapes of the as-grown QWs due to diffusion of In out of the well material. This process is enhanced by diffusion of vacancies generated near the sample surface by ion implantation. QWs with compositions near the critical thickness exhibit different behaviour from that of fully pseudomorphic layers, due to the presence of dislocations in these layers.