Semiconductor heterostructures for spintronics and quantum information

A selection of optical experiments is presented, demonstrating the utility of semiconductors in two novel areas of research: spintronics and quantum information. First we show examples of spin manipulation in semiconductor quantum wells. The light is used to generate a spin polarization and to detect it. Next we discuss application of optical methods in studies of carrier-induced ferromagnetism in quantum wells. Finally, we present examples of single quantum dot spectroscopy related to perspectives of application of quantum dots in quantum information, and, in particular, the use of photon correlation measurements as a tool to study the quantum dot excitation mechanisms. To cite this article: J.A. Gaj et al., C. R. Physique 8 (2007).     

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).     

Coupling to a microdisk cavity containing a three-level quantum-dot with two orthogonal modes

The dynamics of a composite system containing two orthogonal degenerate whispering-gallery cavity modes coupling to a quantum dot (QD) is presented by a full quantum approach. The energy levels of the quantum dot are modeled as a V-type three-level system, which consist of the ground state, right- and left-polarized excitons. The counterclockwise mode a and the clockwise mode b are coupled with the transitions corresponding to the right- and left-polarized excitons with coupling rates g_R and g_L, respectively. An exact solution is proposed in a real-space approach. We majorly discuss the effects of the backscattering rate β on the spectra of the transmission and reflection in a strong coupling regime. A new insight is that one can overcome the excitons' fine structure splitting of a real QD with appropriate backscattering rate β by fine designing the cavity, which would be possible for applications to produce the degenerate entangled photon pairs in a real QD system.     

Coupling effects in a photonic crystal microcavity with embedded semiconductor quantum dot

The present work investigates the effects of relevant parameters of InAs/GaAs quantum dot and photonic crystal slab-based microcavity on the QD–cavity coupling characteristics, in detail. We employ variational approach to find exciton state in QD and to find cavity modes we use the open source GME code. Calculations have performed in linear regime where excitons behave as bosons which correspond to the limit of low excitation. The dynamics of the system are studied using the first order correlation function (G⁽¹⁾(t,τ)). We will show how G⁽¹⁾ varies with time in both strong and weak coupling regimes. Our results indicate that the achieving of strong coupling regime is affected by the size of the quantum dot and how to engineer the photonic crystal microcavity to maximize the ratio of quality factor and mode volume.     

Formation and ordering of epitaxial quantum dots

Single quantum dots (QDs) have great potential as building blocks for quantum information processing devices. However, one of the major difficulties in the fabrication of such devices is the placement of a single dot at a pre-determined position in the device structure, for example, in the centre of a photonic cavity. In this article we review some recent investigations in the site-controlled growth of InAs QDs on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy. The method we use is ex-situ patterning of the GaAs substrate by electron beam lithography and conventional wet or dry etching techniques to form shallow pits in the surface which then determine the nucleation site of an InAs dot. This method is easily scalable and can be incorporated with marker structures to enable simple post-growth lithographic alignment of devices to each site-controlled dot. We demonstrate good site-control for arrays with up to 10 micron spacing between patterned sites, with no dots nucleating between the sites. We discuss the mechanism and the effect of pattern size, InAs deposition amount and growth conditions on this site-control method. Finally we discuss the photoluminescence from these dots and highlight the remaining challenges for this technique. To cite this article: P. Atkinson et al., C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Charge controlled self-assembled quantum dots coupled to photonic crystal nanocavities

The system of charge controlled self-assembled quantum dots coupled to high-Q photonic crystal cavity modes is studied. The quantum dots are embedded in a p-i-n diode structure. Different designs of photonic crystal cavities are used, namely H1 and L3 and the Purcell effect is demonstrated. Furthermore, the fine tuning of the H1 cavity design is studied in order to achieve far field emission profiles that result in higher collection efficiency. An increase in the overall signal from the quantum dot when it is coupled to a cavity is observed, due to the Purcell effect and the improved collection efficiency. This together with the deterministic charging of the quantum dot that is demonstrated, can be used for a single electron spin measurement.     

Comparing the reliability of networks by spectral analysis

Topological effects on the confinement of a moving neutral particle with an induced electric dipole moment confined to a quantum ring and a two-dimensional quantum dot (described by a hard-wall confining potential) are investigated. It is shown in this work that the spectrum of energy depends on the geometric phase obtained by Wei et al. [H. Wei, R. Han, X. Wei, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 2071 (1995)] and persistent currents arise from this dependence in both the quantum ring and the quantum dot. Further, the behaviour of the analogue of the Landau system for a moving electric dipole confined to a two-dimensional quantum dot is discussed, and it is shown that persistent currents are absent in this case.     

Optical nonlinearity enhanced by metal nanoparticle in CdTe quantum dots

The optical nonlinearity of a CdTe quantum dot enhanced by a gold nanoparticle has been theoretically studied by employing the multi-bands effective mass method. The energy levels have been computed using 6×6 k.p model for the valence band. The semiconductor quantum dot-size-dependent third-order susceptibility of third harmonic generation in a CdTe-Au nanocrystal complex has been analyzed. It is found that the metal nanoparticle enhances the optical nonlinearity of the semiconductor quantum dot due to the dipole/multipole interaction that will bring in the strong damping and the field enhancement. By choosing the radius of CdTe quantum dot, the third-order nonlinear susceptibility for third harmonic generation can be optimized for the one- and multi-photon resonance. Also, we can alter the optical nonlinearity by changing the ratio of semiconductor-metal nanoparticle distance to the metal nanoparticle radius.     

Infrared photodetection with semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots

Semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots are potential candidates to develop a new class of midinfrared quantum photodetectors and focal plane arrays. In this article, we present the specific midinfrared properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots associated with the intersublevel transitions. The electronic structure, which accounts for the strain field in the islands, is obtained within the framework of a three-dimensional 8 band k.p formalism. The midinfrared intersublevel absorption in n-doped quantum dots is described. We show that the carrier dynamics can be understood in terms of polarons which result from the strong coupling regime for the electron–phonon interaction in the dots. The principle of operation of vertical and lateral quantum dot infrared photodetectors is described and discussed by comparison with quantum well infrared photodetectors. We review the performances of different type of detectors developed to date and finally give some orientation to realize high performance quantum dot infrared photodetectors. To cite this article: P. Boucaud, S. Sauvage, C. R. Physique 4 (2003).     

Optical and electronic properties of quantum dots with magnetic impurities

The article discusses some of the recent results on semiconductor quantum dots with magnetic impurities. A single Mn impurity incorporated in a quantum dot strongly changes the optical response of a quantum-dot system. A character of Mn-carrier interaction is very different for II-VI and III-V quantum dots (QDs). In the II-VI QDs, a Mn impurity influences mostly the spin-structure of an exciton. In the III-V dots, a spatial localization of hole by a Mn impurity can be very important, and ultimately yields a totally different spin structure. A Mn-doped QD with a variable number of mobile carriers represents an artificial magnetic atom. Due to the Mn-carrier interaction, the order of filling of electronic shells in the magnetic QDs can be very different to the case of the real atoms. The “periodic” table of the artificial magnetic atoms can be realized in voltage-tunable transistor structures. For the electron numbers corresponding to the regime of Hund's rule, the magnetic Mn-carrier coupling is especially strong and the magnetic-polaron states are very robust. Magnetic QD molecules are also very different to the real molecules. QD molecules can demonstrate spontaneous breaking of symmetry and phase transitions. Single QDs and QD molecules can be viewed as voltage-tunable nanoscale memory cells where information is stored in the form of robust magnetic-polaron states. To cite this article: A.O. Govorov, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Coulomb oscillations of the ballistic conductance in a quasi-one-dimensional quantum dot

It is demonstrated that localized states of an open quasi-one-dimensional quantum dot can be charged by the Coulomb blockade mechanism. A new effect—Coulomb oscillations of the ballistic conductance—is observed because of the high sensitivity of the ballistic current to single-electron variations of the self-consistent potential of the dot. The model proposed explains experimental results [C.-T. Liang, M.Y. Simmons, C. G. Smith, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 3507 (1998)].     

On the Maximal Excess Charge of the Chandrasekhar–Coulomb Hamiltonian in Two Dimension

We show that for the straightforward quantized relativistic Coulomb Hamiltonian of a two-dimensional atom – or the corresponding magnetic quantum dot – the maximal number of electrons does not exceed twice the nuclear charge. The result is then generalized to the presence of external magnetic fields and atomic Hamiltonians. This is based on the positivity of $$|{\bf x}| T({\bf p}) + T({\bf p} ) |{\bf x}|$$ which – in two dimensions – is false for the non-relativistic case T(p) = p ²/2, but is proven in this paper for T(p) = |p|, i.e., the ultra-relativistic kinetic energy.     

Thermoelectric transport properties through a T-shaped single quantum dot

We study the thermopower, thermal conductance, electric conductance and the thermoelectric figure of merit for a gate-defined T-shaped single quantum dot (QD). The QD is solved in the limit of strong Coulombian repulsion U→∞, inside the dot, and the quantum wire is modeled on a tight-binding linear chain. We employ the X-boson approach for the Anderson impurity model to describe the localized level within the quantum dot. Our results are in qualitative agreement with recent experimental reports and other theoretical researches for the case of a quantum dot embedded into a conduction channel, employing analogies between the two systems. The results for the thermopower sign as a function of the gate voltage (associated with the quantum dot energy) are in agreement with a recent experimental result obtained for a suspended quantum dot. The thermoelectric figure of merit times temperature results indicates that, at low temperatures and in the crossover between the intermediate valence and Kondo regimes, the system might have practical applicability in the development of thermoelectric devices.     

光学微盘腔与三能级量子点系统中的模耦合研究

用一种全量子理论方法研究了波导、光学微盘腔与三能级量子点耦合系统的动力学过程,求出其耦合后的透射模和反射模的解析解. 由于微腔表面粗糙引起反向散射,在微腔内形成两简并回音壁耦合共振模,其耦合率为β;量子点的两激发态分别以耦合率g₁,g₂与回音壁耦合共振模产生耦合. 在实数空间里,得出透射光谱和反射光谱的数值解,这些三能级模型结果比二能级模型结果更接近真实光学微盘腔系统,能更好地显示耦合系统的动力学特性. 关键词： 模耦合 光学微盘腔 三能级量子点 全量子理论     

Statistical theory of a quantum emitter strongly coupled to Anderson-localized modes

A statistical theory of the coupling between a quantum emitter and Anderson-localized cavity modes is presented based on a dyadic Green's function formalism. The probability of achieving the strong light-matter coupling regime is extracted for an experimentally realistic system composed of InAs quantum dots embedded in a disordered photonic crystal waveguide. We demonstrate that by engineering the relevant parameters that define the quality of light confinement, i.e., the light localization length and the loss length, strong coupling between a single quantum dot and an Anderson-localized cavity is within experimental reach. As a consequence, confining light by disorder provides a novel platform for quantum electrodynamics experiments.     

On the possibility of implementation of Kohn’s theorem in the case of ellipsoidal quantum dots

An electron gas in a strongly oblated ellipsoidal quantum dot with impenetrable walls is considered. Influence of the walls of the quantum dot is assumed to be so strong in the direction of the minor axis (the OZ axis) that the Coulomb interaction between electrons in this direction can be neglected and considered as two-dimensional, coupled. On the basis of geometric adiabaticity we show that in the case of a few-particle gas a powerful repulsive potential of the quantum dot walls has a parabolic form and localizes the dot in the geometric center of the structure. Due to this fact, conditions occur to implement the generalized Kohn theorem for this system.     

Dephasing processes in a single semiconductor quantum dot

We discuss the decoherence dynamics in a single semiconductor quantum dot and analyze two dephasing mechanisms. In the first part of the review, we examine the intrinsic source of dephasing provided by the coupling to acoustic phonons. We show that the non-perturbative reaction of the lattice to the interband optical transition results in a composite optical spectrum with a central zero-phonon line and lateral side-bands. In fact, these acoustic phonon side-bands completely dominate the quantum dot optical response at room temperature. In the second part of the article, we focus on the extrinsic dephasing mechanism of spectral diffusion that determines the quantum dot decoherence at low temperatures. We interpret the variations of both width and shape of the zero-phonon line as due to the fluctuating electrostatic environment. In particular, we demonstrate the existence of a motional narrowing regime in the limit of low incident power or low temperature, thus revealing an unconventional phenomenology compared to nuclear magnetic resonance. To cite this article: G. Cassabois, R. Ferreira, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Probing spin physics in the quantum Hall regime by heat capacity and magnetotransport measurements

We review recent heat capacity and magnetotransport experiments on GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures containing multilayer two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) in the quantum Hall regime. Emphasis in this article is on the study of the heat capacity near Landau level filling factor ν=1. We also present a detailed survey of the development of the quantum Hall effect in tilted-magnetic fields for ν≲2. Among the novel phenomena we address is the strong coupling between the nuclear spins and the electrons associated with the spin phase transitions of the 2DES at ν=4/3 and near ν=1. To cite this article: S. Melinte et al., C. R. Physique 3 (2002) 667–676.     

偶极子位置及偏振对激发光子晶体H1微腔的影响

光子晶体微腔和量子点的集成是实现量子信息处理非常具有潜力的平台之一,利用微腔和量子点的耦合可以制备纠缠光子对,实现对量子态的操控.因为光子晶体微腔具有品质因子高、模场体积小等优点,可以极大地增强光与物质之间的相互作用,从而易于实现量子态在不同物理体系之间的转换.通过单量子点和光子晶体H1微腔的耦合可以产生纠缠光子对,因为H1微腔具有简并的、模式偏振正交的基态模式.通常微腔模式的激发随着量子点在微腔中的位置变化而改变,本文用时域有限差分方法研究了偶极子光源的位置及偏振对激发光子晶体H1微腔模式的影响.结果表明:通过改变偶极子光源位置可以选择性地激发H1微腔简并模式中的一个;具有某一偏振的偶极子光源只能激发相应偏振的微腔模式;模式激发强度的大小也是由偶极子光源在微腔中的位置决定的.鉴于目前量子点在微腔中的位置尚不能精确控制,所以微腔模式受激发光源位置的影响的研究具有重要意义.     

Targeted Singlet Oxygen Generation Using Different DNA-Interacting Perylene Diimide Type Photosensitizers

Singlet oxygen quantum yields (Φ _Δ) of different perylene diimides (PDIs) containing phenyl (PDI-Ph), pyrene (PDI-Pyr), and indole (PDI-In) units in bay positions of the ring were determined using 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF) method in toluene/methanol (99:1) system. Pyrene-substituted PDI were the most efficient singlet oxygen generator among the investigated photosensitizers with a quantum yield of Φ _Δ?=?0.93 in toluene/methanol. Additionally, their binding affinities to G-quadruplex DNA structure were investigated by steady-state measurements. There were marked red shifts of absorbance bands for PDI-Pyr/DNA strand complexes with respect to the absorption maxima of DNA-free solution of PDI-Pyr in phosphate buffer at pH 6.