Barrier height and tunneling current in Schottky diodes with embedded layers of quantum dots

Electrical characteristics of silicon Schottky diodes containing Ge quantum dot (QD) arrays are investigated. It has been found that the potential barrier height at the metal-semiconductor contact can be controlled by introducing dense QD layers, which is a consequence of the formation of a planar electrostatic potential of charged QDs. When the applied voltage is varied, the ideality factors of Schottky barriers exhibit oscillations due to the tunneling of holes through discrete levels in quantum dots.     

Enhancement of charge and spin Seebeck effect in triple quantum dots coupling to ferromagnetic and superconducting electrodes

We theoretically study the thermoelectric transport properties through a triple quantum dots (QDs) device with the central QD coupled to a ferromagnetic lead, a superconducting one, and two side QDs with spin-dependent interdot tunneling coupling. The thermoelectric coefficients are calculated in the linear response regime by means of nonequilibrium Green's function method. The thermopower is determined by the single-electron tunneling processes at the edge of superconducting gap. Near the outside of the gap edge the thermopower is enhanced while thermal conductance is suppressed, as a result, the charge figure of merit can be greatly improved as the gap appropriately increases. In the same way, charge figure of merit also can be greatly improved near the outside of the gap edge by adjusting interdot tunneling coupling and asymmetry coupling of the side QDs to central QD. Moreover, the appropriate increase of the interdot tunneling splitting and spin polarization of ferromagnetic lead not only can improve charge thermopower and charge figure of merit, but also can enhance spin thermopower and spin figure of merit. Especially, the interdot tunneling splitting scheme provides a method of controlling charge (spin) figure merit by external magnetic field.     

A two-dimensional electron gas as a sensitive detector to observe the charge carrier dynamics of self-assembled QDs

The carrier tunneling dynamics of self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QD) is studied using a time-resolved conductance measurement of a nearby two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). The investigated heterostructures consist of a layer of QDs with different coupling strengths to a 2DEG, adjusted by different thicknesses of the spacer layers. We demonstrate a strong influence of charged QDs on the conductance of the 2DEG, even for very weak coupling between the QD layer and the 2D system, where standard capacitance (C)–voltage (V) spectroscopy is unsuitable to investigate the electronic structure of these QDs.     

Variable orbital coupling in a two-dimensional quantum-dot solid probed on a local scale

The optoelectronic properties of semiconductor quantum-dot (QD) solids depend on the electronic structure of the building blocks and their interactions. Disorder may affect the coupling on a local scale. We have measured the density of states of 2D arrays of PbSe QDs site by site using scanning tunneling spectroscopy. It markedly differs from that of isolated QDs due to electronic coupling in the array. We observe strong local variations in the coupling strength with two prototypical cases: delocalization of the conduction electrons only, and full coupling with both hole and electron delocalization over the QD sites in the array.     

Regular array of InGaAs quantum dots with 100-nm-periodicity formed on patterned GaAs substrates

Regular arrays of InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) with a 100-nm-periodicity have been successfully fabricated by controlling the nucleation sites on artificially prepared nano-hole arrays. The nucleation probability of a single QD at each nano-hole reached 100% by depositing InGaAs at low temperature and subsequent annealing. Four InGaAs QD layers were vertically stacked while conserving the regularity, and the stacked QD array has shown a clear photoluminescence peak at room temperature. We discuss the effects of several growth conditions on the nucleation probability of QDs.     

Polarization selective magneto-optical study on the coupled quantum dots using resonant excitation

We have studied a double-layer self-assembled quantum dot (QD) structures consisting of non-magnetic CdSe and magnetic CdMnSe. Transmission electron microscopy image shows that QDs are formed within the CdSe and CdMnSe layers, and they are vertically correlated in the system. The strong interband ground state transition was observed in magneto-photoluminescence (PL) experiments. In contrast to a typical behavior for many low-dimensional systems involving diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs), where PL signal dramatically increases when an external magnetic field is applied, we have observed a significant decrease of the PL intensity as a function of magnetic field in the double-layer structures where the alternating QD layers contain the DMS and non-DMS QDs. We attribute such effect to carrier transfer from non-magnetic CdSe dots to magnetic CdMnSe dots due to the large Zeeman shift of the band edges of DMS QDs in magnetic field. Since the band alignment of QD structure strongly depends on the spin states of system, we performed polarization-selective PL measurement to identify spin-dependent carrier tunneling in this coupled system.     

Förster Energy Transfer in Arrays of Epitaxial CdSe/ZnSe Quantum Dots Involving Bright and Dark Excitons

Using time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, we establish the presence of the Förster energy transfer mechanism between two arrays of epitaxial CdSe/ZnSe quantum dots (QDs) of different sizes. The mechanism operates through dipole–dipole interaction between ground excitonic states of the smaller QDs and excited states of the larger QDs. The dependence of energy transfer efficiency on the width of barrier separating the QD insets is shown to be in line with the Förster mechanism. The temperature dependence of the PL decay times and PL intensity suggests the involvement of dark excitons in the energy transfer process.     

Single-electron transistor spectroscopy of InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots

A single-electron transistor (SET) is used to detect tunneling of single electrons into individual InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). By using an SET with a small island area and growing QDs with a low density we are able to distinguish and measure three QDs. The bias voltage at which resonant tunneling into the dots occurs can be shifted using a surface gate electrode. From the applied voltages at which we observe electrons tunneling, we are able to measure the electron addition energies of three QDs.     

Effects of a longitudinal magnetic field on spin injection and detection in InAs/GaAs quantum dot structures

Effects of a longitudinal magnetic field on optical spin injection and detection in InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) structures are investigated by optical orientation spectroscopy. An increase in the optical and spin polarization of the QDs is observed with increasing magnetic field in the range 0-2?T, and is attributed to suppression of exciton spin depolarization within the QDs that is promoted by the hyperfine interaction and anisotropic electron-hole exchange interaction. This leads to a corresponding enhancement in spin detection efficiency of the QDs by a factor of up to 2.5. At higher magnetic fields, when these spin depolarization processes are quenched, the electron spin polarization in anisotropic QD structures (such as double QDs that are preferably aligned along a specific crystallographic axis) still exhibits a rather strong field dependence under non-resonant excitation. In contrast, such a field dependence is practically absent in more 'isotropic' QD structures (e.g.?single QDs). We attribute the observed effect to stronger electron spin relaxation in the spin injectors (i.e.?wetting layer and GaAs barriers) of the lower-symmetry QD structures, which also explains the lower spin injection efficiency observed in these structures.     

Extraordinary electron transmission through a periodic array of quantum dots

We study electron transmission through a periodic array of quantum dots (QD) sandwiched between doped semiconductor leads. When the Fermi wavelength of tunneling electron exceeds the array lattice constant, the off-resonant per QD conductance is enhanced by several orders of magnitude relative to the single-QD conductance. The physical mechanism of the enhancement is delocalization of a small fraction of system eigenstates caused by coherent coupling of QDs via the electron continuum in the leads.     

Energy-dependent tunneling from few-electron dynamic quantum dots

We measure the electron escape rate from surface-acoustic-wave dynamic quantum dots (QDs) through a tunnel barrier. Rate equations are used to extract the tunneling rates, which change by an order of magnitude with tunnel-barrier-gate voltage. We find that the tunneling rates depend on the number of electrons in each dynamic QD because of Coulomb energy. By comparing this dependence to a saddle-point-potential model, the addition energies of the second and third electron in each dynamic QD are estimated. The scale ( approximately a few meV) is comparable to those in static QDs as expected.     

Effect of inhomogeneous broadening of submonolayer quantum dots on the generation of vertical-cavity laser with saturable absorber

The experimental dependences for a laser based on submonolayer quantum dots (QDs) without an absorber were used to calculate the energy characteristics of a semiconductor laser based on QDs and quantum wells with a saturable absorber under bistable lasing conditions; the data obtained make it possible to implement a monolithic version of this laser. All of the mechanisms of carrier relaxation and QD filling, which are important for experiment, are taken into account. The effect of inhomogeneous QD broadening over resonant frequency is considered. The laser mode shift that is caused by an increase in the pump current is found to limit the lasing power. It is shown that the choice of active and passive layers with inhomogeneously broadened QDs makes it possible to obtain bistable lasing in the entire range of available pump currents.     

Optimum Quantum Yield of the Light Emission from 2 to 10 nm Hydrosilylated Silicon Quantum Dots

Optimizing the light‐emitting efficiency of silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) has been recently intensified by the demand of the practical use of Si QDs in a variety of fields such as optoelectronics, photovoltaics, and bioimaging. It is imperative that an understanding of the optimum light‐emitting efficiency of Si QDs should be obtained to guide the design of the synthesis and processing of Si QDs. Here an investigation is presented on the characteristics of the photoluminescence (PL) from hydrosilylated Si QDs in a rather broad size region (≈2–10 nm), which enables an effective mass approximation model to be developed, which can very well describe the dependence of the PL energy on the QD size for Si QDs in the whole quantum‐confinement regime, and demonstrates that an optimum PL quantum yield (QY) appears at a specific QD size for Si QDs. The optimum PL QY results from the interplay between quantum‐confinement effect and surface effect. The current work has important implications for the surface engineering of Si QDs. To optimize the light‐emission efficiency of Si QDs, the surface of Si QDs must be engineered to minimize the formation of defects such as dangling bonds at the QD surface and build an energy barrier that can effectively prevent carriers in Si QDs from tunneling out.     

基于量子点-CBP混合层的量子点LED的制备

采用一锅法制备出高质量的具有核壳结构的Cd Se@Zn S、Cd Zn S/Zn S量子点。将量子点混入空穴传输材料CBP中形成复合的有源材料,经过几步简单的旋涂操作,制备出相应的绿光、蓝光量子点LED器件。这种方法利用了油溶性量子点和CBP材料的相容性,减少了旋涂操作的步骤,有利于快速制备基于量子点的电致发光器件。基于两步旋涂操作制备的量子点LED,由于阴极与复合有源层之间的能级差较大,导致需要较高的开启电压。在CBP材料中,注入的载流子有可能会被量子点表面缺陷捕获,形成表面态的发光。表面态发光的相对强度依赖于载流子浓度。     

Magneto-optical study of nonmagnetic quantum dots coupled to a magnetic semiconductor quantum well

We have investigated a series of double-layer structures consisting of a layer of self-assembled non-magnetic CdSe quantum dots (QDs) separated by a thin ZnSe barrier from a ZnCdMnSe diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMSs) quantum well (QW). In the series, the thickness of the ZnSe barrier ranged between 12 and 40 nm. We observe two clearly defined photoluminescence (PL) peaks in all samples, corresponding to the CdSe QDs and the ZnCdMnSe QW, respectively. The PL intensity of the QW peak is observed to decrease systematically relative to the QD peak as the thickness of the ZnSe barrier decreases, indicating a corresponding increase in carrier tunneling from the QW to the QDs. Furthermore, polarization-selective PL measurements reveal that the degree of polarization of the PL emitted by the CdSe QDs increases with decreasing thickness of the ZnSe barriers. The observed behavior is discussed in terms of anti-parallel spin interaction between carriers localized in the non-magnetic QDs and in the magnetic QWs.     

Kondo effect in the presence of itinerant-electron ferromagnetism studied with the numerical renormalization group method

The Kondo effect in quantum dots (QDs)-artificial magnetic impurities-attached to ferromagnetic leads is studied with the numerical renormalization group method. It is shown that the QD level is spin split due to the presence of ferromagnetic electrodes, leading to a suppression of the Kondo effect. We find that the Kondo effect can be restored by compensating this splitting with a magnetic field. Although the resulting Kondo resonance then has an unusual spin asymmetry with a reduced Kondo temperature, the ground state is still a locally screened state, describable by Fermi liquid theory and a generalized Friedel sum rule, and transport at zero temperature is spin independent.     

自组织InAs/GaAs量子点垂直排列生长研究

利用自组织生长InAs/GaAs量子点的垂直相关排列机制，生长了上下两层用6.5nm GaAs间隔的InAs结构.下层InAs已经成岛，由于应力传递效应，上层InAs由二维生长向三维成岛生长的转变提前发生，临界厚度从1.7ML变成小于1.5ML.透射电子显微镜截面象显示形成上下两层高度差别很大的InAs量子点，但是由于两层量子点之间存在强烈的电子耦合，光致发光谱中只有与包含大量子点的InAs层相对应的一个发光峰.     

量子点操控的光子探测和圆偏振光子发射

半导体量子点是研究光子与电子态相互作用的优选固态体系,并在光子探测和发射两个方向上展现出独特的技术机遇.其中基于量子点的共振隧穿结构被认为在单光子探测方面综合性能最佳,但受到光子数识别、工作温度两个关键性能的制约.利用腔模激子态外场耦合效应,有望获得圆偏振态可控的高频单光子发射.本文介绍作者提出的量子点耦合共振隧穿（QD-cRTD）的光子探测机理,利用量子点量子阱复合电子态的隧穿放大,将QD-cRTD光子探测的工作温度由液氦提高至液氮条件,光电响应的增益达到10⁷以上,并具备双光子识别能力;同时,由量子点能级的直接吸收,原型器件获得了近红外的光子响应.在量子点光子发射机理的研究方面,作者实现了量子点激子跃迁和微腔腔模共振耦合的磁场调控,在Purcell效应的作用下增强激子自旋态的自发辐射速率,从而增强量子点中左旋或右旋圆偏振光的发射强度,圆偏度达到90%以上,形成一种光子自旋可控发射的新途径.     

Detection of single photons by a resonant tunneling heterostructure with a quantum dot layer

Light absorption by GaAs/AlAs heterostructures with a layer of self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) at resonant tunneling through an energy-selected QD has been investigated. A high sensitivity of the current through this selected tunneling channel to the absorption of single photons with a wavelength λ ≲ 860 nm up to a temperature of 50 K is demonstrated; this sensitivity is caused by the Coulomb effect of the photoexcited holes captured by surrounding QDs on the resonance conditions. It is shown that single-photon absorption can discretely change the current through the system under study by a factor of more than 50. The captured-hole lifetimes have been measured, and a model has been developed to qualitatively describe the experimental data. It is also demonstrated that the InAs monolayer can effectively absorb photons. The properties of the heterostructure studied can be used not only to detect photons but also to design logical valves and optical memory devices.     

Transient interband light absorption by quantum dots: Degenerate pump-probe spectroscopy

The optical pump-probe method, which makes it possible to determine the energy relaxation rate for excited electron-hole pairs and excitons in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), is theoretically described. A scheme in which the carrier frequencies of optical pump and probe pulses are close to resonance with the same interband transition in the QD electron subsystem (degenerate case) is considered. The pump-induced probe energy absorption is analyzed as a function of the delay time between the pump and probe pulses. It is shown that under certain conditions this dependence is reduced to monoexponential, whose exponent is proportional to the energy relaxation rate for the considered state of electron-hole pairs and excitons. The size dependence of the energy relaxation rate of the electron-hole pair states is modeled by the example of PbSe-based QDs, whose electron subsystem is in the strong-confinement regime.