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.     

Direct interband light absorption in a strongly prolated ellipsoidal quantum dot

Within the framework of adiabatic approximation the energy levels and direct interband light absorption in a strongly prolated ellipsoidal quantum dot are studied. Analytical expressions for the particle energy spectrum and for absorption threshold frequencies at three regimes of size quantization are obtained. Selection rules for quantum transitions are revealed.     

Direct interband light absorption in a strongly oblated ellipsoidal quantum dot

Within the framework of adiabatic approximation the energy levels and direct interband light absorption in a strongly oblated ellipsoidal quantum dot are studied. Analytical expressions for the particle energy spectrum and for the absorption threshold frequencies at three regimes of quantization are obtained. Selection rules for quantum transitions are revealed.     

Impurity absorption of light in structures with quantum dots

The impurity absorption of light in a quantum dot with a parabolic potential profile is considered within the framework of the model of a zero radius potential in the effective mass approximation. The sensitivity of the effect of position disorder to the size factor at the transition from a quantum well to a quantum dot is revealed. The spectral dependence of the coefficient of impurity absorption of light is investigated with account of the spread in size of quantum dots. It is shown that the account of spread in size results in smearing of discrete absorption lines. The impurity absorption edge depends on the parameters of quantum dots and the depth of the impurity level.     

Intraband absorption and emission of light in quantum wells and quantum dots

High-resolution spectroscopy in the mid-infrared spectral range is used to study electronic transitions between size-quantization subbands in stepped quantum wells under picosecond interband excitation. The contributions from intersubband and intrasubband absorption of light are separated by using the difference in time profiles of the absorption coefficient for these cases. For stepped quantum wells, spontaneous interband luminescence and superluminescence are studied for different excitation levels. For structures with quantum dots, the intraband absorption spectra for n-and p-type structures and the spectra of photoinduced intraband absorption and emission (for polarized radiation) for undoped structures are studied.     

Direct interband light absorption in a cylindrical quantum dot in quantizing magnetic field

In this paper the direct interband transitions in cylindrical quantum dot (QD) made of GaAs are studied in the presence of a magnetic field. Two models of QD confinement potential are discussed. For both models the expressions for absorption coefficients and dependencies of effective threshold frequencies of absorption on the value of applied magnetic field and on geometrical sizes of QD are obtained. The selection rules corresponding to different transitions between quantum levels are found.     

Dark-bright mixing of interband transitions in symmetric semiconductor quantum dots

In photoluminescence spectra of symmetric [111] grown GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots in longitudinal magnetic fields applied along the growth axis, we observe in addition to the expected bright states also nominally dark transitions for both charged and neutral excitons. We uncover a strongly nonmonotonic, sign-changing field dependence of the bright neutral exciton splitting resulting from the interplay between exchange and Zeeman effects. Our theory shows quantitatively that these surprising experimental results are due to magnetic-field-induced ±3/2 heavy-hole mixing, an inherent property of systems with C(3v) point-group symmetry.     

Photoreflectance spectroscopy of quantum dots

We present a short review of applications of a contactless modulation spectroscopy called photoreflectance (PR) to semiconductor quantum dots investigations. The derivative-like spectra and high sensitivity to optical transitions are the reasons why this method, since half of eighties, has become one of the most useful and widely used experimental technique in the investigation of low-dimensional structures like quantum wells, superlattices and heterojunctions. When quantum dot structures had been manufactured for the first time there appeared some attempts of an application of PR and other modulation techniques in studies of fundamental physical properties of those nanometer scale objects. It turned out that PR can be alternative and even better (giving more details) in comparison to common optical experiments.     

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.     

Degenerate and non-degenerate four-wave mixing in semiconductor quantum dots

Il Nuovo Cimento D - We present wave-mixing techniques which are used to determine the tensor elements of the non-linear dielectric susceptibility, the dynamics of non-linear optical effects and...     

Tailored pump-probe transient spectroscopy with time-dependent density-functional theory: controlling absorption spectra

Recent advances in laser technology allow us to follow electronic motion at its natural time-scale with ultra-fast time resolution, leading the way towards attosecond physics experiments of extreme precision. In this work, we assess the use of tailored pumps in order to enhance (or reduce) some given features of the probe absorption (for example, absorption in the visible range of otherwise transparent samples). This type of manipulation of the system response could be helpful for its full characterization, since it would allow us to visualize transitions that are dark when using unshaped pulses. In order to investigate these possibilities, we perform first a theoretical analysis of the non-equilibrium response function in this context, aided by one simple numerical model of the hydrogen atom. Then, we proceed to investigate the feasibility of using time-dependent density-functional theory as a means to implement, theoretically, this absorption-optimization idea, for more complex atoms or molecules. We conclude that the proposed idea could in principle be brought to the laboratory: tailored pump pulses can excite systems into light-absorbing states. However, we also highlight the severe numerical and theoretical difficulties posed by the problem: large-scale non-equilibrium quantum dynamics are cumbersome, even with TDDFT, and the shortcomings of state-of-the-art TDDFT functionals may still be serious for these out-of-equilibrium situations.     

Electronic states and interband light absorption in semi-spherical quantum dot under the influence of strong magnetic field

In the framework of effective mass approximation the electronic states in semi-spherical quantum lens under the influence of strong magnetic field are investigated. We have used the adiabatic approximation for the case of strong magnetic field. The eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of this problem are determined. In strong confinement regime interband optical absorption of light is investigated in quantum lens from InAs. The threshold frequencies of absorption are determined. The comparison with the case of film under the influence of strong magnetic field with infinitely high confinement potential is performed.     

Cotunneling spectroscopy in few-electron quantum dots

Few-electron quantum dots are investigated in the regime of strong tunneling to the leads. Inelastic cotunneling is used to measure the two-electron singlet-triplet splitting above and below a magnetic field driven singlet-triplet transition. Evidence for a nonequilibrium two-electron singlet-triplet Kondo effect is presented. Cotunneling allows orbital correlations and parameters characterizing entanglement of the two-electron singlet ground state to be extracted from dc transport.     

Coherent spectroscopy of semiconductor quantum dots

Coherent spectroscopy of semiconductor quantum dots, such as photon echo, accumulated photon echo, interferometric coherency measurement, quantum beat and coherent phonon measurement, are reviewed in relation to the historical progress in the coherent spectroscopy of semiconductors.     

Exciton states and interband optical transitions in ZnO/MgZnO quantum dots

Within the framework of the effective-mass approximation, the exciton states confined in wurtzite ZnO/MgZnO quantum dot (QD) are calculated using a variational procedure, including three-dimensional confinement of carriers in the QD and the strong built-in electric field effect due to the piezoelectricity and spontaneous polarizations. The exciton binding energy and the electron-hole recombination rate as functions of the height (or radius) of the QD are studied. Numerical results show that the strong built-in electric field leads to a remarkable electron-hole spatial separation, and this effect has a significant influence on the exciton states and optical properties of wurtzite ZnO/MgZnO QD.     

Inelastic light scattering by acoustic phonons in quantum dots and quantum films

The Raman scattering spectra were analyzed in order to find and explain similarities and differences in the interaction between electrons and acoustic phonons in quantum dots and quantum films.