Optical generation of spin coherence in single-charged (In,Ga)As/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

The generation of electron spin coherence has been studied in n-modulation-doped (In,Ga)As/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) which contain on average a single electron per dot. The doping has been confirmed by pump–probe Faraday rotation experiments in a magnetic field parallel to the heterostructure growth direction. For studying spin coherence, the magnetic field was rotated by 90° to the Voigt geometry, and the precession of the electron spin about the field was monitored. The coherence is generated by resonant excitation of the QDs with circularly polarized laser pulses, creating a coherent superposition of an electron, and a trion state. The efficiency of the generation can be controlled by the pulse intensity, being most efficient for (2n+1)π pulses.     

Selective optical control of electron spin coherence in singly charged GaAs-Al0.3Ga0.7As quantum dots

Coherent transient excitation of the spin ground states in singly charged quantum dots creates optically coupled and decoupled states of the electron spin. We demonstrate selective excitation from the spin ground states to the trion state through phase sensitive control of the spin coherence via these three states, leading to partial rotations of the spin vector. This progress lays the ground work for achieving complete ultrafast spin rotations.     

Photomagnetic effect in In(Ga)As/GaAs heteronanostructures with quantum dots and wells

The influence of quantum-size layers (InAs quantum dots, In_0.2Ga_0.8As quantum wells, and combined quantum-well/quantum-dot layers) and heteroepitaxial passivation of surface by an In_0.5Ga_0.5P layer on the photomagnetic effect in epitaxial n-GaAs layers has been investigated. Original Russian Text ? I.A. Karpovich, O.E. Khapugin, 2009, published in Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Fizicheskaya, 2009, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 119–123.     

Low frequency noise in GaAs structures with embedded In(Ga)As quantum dots

Current–voltage and low frequency excess electrical noise characteristics of two different—Schottky diode and n-i-n diode—GaAs structures embedded with self-assembled In(Ga)As quantum dots are reported. We find the growth of quantum dots induces defects not only near the quantum dot but also extended to quite a distance toward the growth direction. In Schottky diode structure, comparing with the reference sample without the quantum dot layer, the current dependence of the low frequency noise spectral density indicated that the noise is from the generated interface states with the density increasing towards the band tail. Also the crystal quality of the Schottky diode including the quantum dot layer, deduced from the Hooge parameter, was slightly worse than that of the reference sample. For n-i-n diode structure, the current–voltage relation was linear, and a quadratic current dependence of the noise spectral density was observed. The Hooge parameter for the n-i-n structure was determined to be on the order of unity indicating the general degradation of the structure.     

Stimulated and spontaneous optical generation of electron spin coherence in charged GaAs quantum dots

We report on the coherent optical excitation of electron spin polarization in the ground state of charged GaAs quantum dots via an intermediate charged exciton (trion) state. Coherent optical fields are used for the creation and detection of the Raman spin coherence between the spin ground states of the charged quantum dot. The measured spin decoherence time, which is likely limited by the nature of the spin ensemble, approaches 10 ns at zero field. We also show that the Raman spin coherence in the quantum beats is caused not only by the usual stimulated Raman interaction but also by simultaneous spontaneous radiative decay of either excited trion state to a coherent combination of the two spin states.     

Optical transition pathways in type-II Ga(As)Sb quantum dots

We present results of room temperature photoreflectance (PR) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements of molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown GaAsSb/GaAs quantum dot structures: one with an In_0.14Ga_0.86As capping quantum well and one without it. PL was used to determine the structures’ ground-state transition energies. This result was employed in an 8-band k·p Hamiltonian to achieve a band structure of the structures, which have different electron confinement. The dot emission energies suggest a large amount of As incorporation into the dots, which is due to enhanced adatom mixing at a higher than normal growth temperature of 510 °C. Our calculations indicate a dot composition of 25-50% Sb gives the best fit to experiment. This uncertainty in composition arises due to the fact that different bowing parameters of the ternary alloy could be applied in the calculations. The theoretical analysis accounts well for the main feature in the PR spectra of both samples.     

Effect of a Coulomb well in (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum wells

Magnetooptical investigation of exciton transitions in high-quality quantum wells of an (In, Ga)As/GaAs heterosystem has been carried out. Investigation of transmission of free-hanging samples detached from the substrate in the magnetic fields of up to 12 T revealed a rich fine structure associated with various heavy-hole and light-hole exciton transitions. In particular, transitions from the excited states of light holes localized in a Coulomb potential produced by an electron along the heterojunction axis (a Coulomb well) have been detected. Taking into account consistently stresses, formation of Landau levels, the binding energies of excitons (diamagnetic excitons), and the effect of a Coulomb well, we have succeeded to describe the experimental results with the use of a self-consistent variational procedure. As a result, new features in the structure of optical transitions have been explained and the effective masses of electrons and holes of excitons formed by both heavy and light holes have been determined with a high accuracy.     

Lateral carrier tunnelling in stacked In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum rings

Exciton recombination dynamics in vertical stacks of InGaAs quantum rings have been studied by means of continuous wave and time resolved photoluminescence under low excitation density conditions. We have paid special attention to the effect of the carrier coupling on the exciton radiative lifetime: weak (14 nm spacer sample), intermediate (4.5 nm spacer sample), where the size filtering effects (towards small rings) compensate partially that arising from carrier coupling (towards lower energies), and strong electron and hole coupling (1.5 nm spacer sample) between layers. Experimental decay times in the latter two cases have been compared to the times simulated with a multi-quantum well based model, which accounts for the observed change of carrier coupling regime. The most important effect is observed when the hole wave function overlap along the growth direction becomes important (1.5 nm spacer sample). This situation makes important the lateral tunneling of excitons between rings, given their large lateral size, which is characterized by times around 5 ns at the emission peak energy (rings with the most probable size of the distribution).     

Spin coherence of holes in GaAs/(Al,Ga)As quantum wells

Carrier spin coherence in a p-doped GaAs/(Al,Ga)As quantum well with a diluted hole gas is studied by picosecond pump-probe Kerr rotation. For resonant optical excitation of the positively charged exciton the spin precession shows two types of oscillations: Electron spin beats decaying with the charged exciton radiative lifetime of 50 ps, and long-lived hole spin beats with dephasing times up to 650 ps, which decrease with increasing temperature, underlining the importance of hole localization. The mechanism of hole spin coherence generation is discussed.     

Optical tailoring of electron spin coherence in quantum dots

We address the precession of an ensemble of electron spins, each confined in a (In, Ga)As/GaAs self-assembled quantum dot. The quantum dot inhomogeneity is directly reflected in the precession of the optically oriented electron spins about an external magnetic field, which is subject to fast dephasing on a nanoseconds time scale. Proper periodic laser excitation allows synchronization of the electron spin precessions with the excitation cycle. The experimental conditions can be tailored such that eventually all (about a million) electron spins that are excited by the laser precess with a single frequency. In this regime the ensemble can be exploited during the single electron spin coherence times being in the microseconds range.     

Theoretical predictions of the electronic and optical properties of single and coupled (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots

We show how an atomistic pseudopotential plus many-body configuration interaction theory can address the main spectroscopic features of self-assembled dots including, excitons, trions, biexcitons, fine-structure, charging spectra as well as electric-field dependence of entanglement in dot molecules.     

Self-assembling of In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots on (N11) substrates: the (311)A case

We have investigated the In(Ga)As island formation, in the Stranski-Krastanov growth mode, on (311)A GaAs substrates. The surface topography of InAs and InGaAs strained epilayers was studied by contact microscopies. The different substrate affects the overgrown island shape. In(Ga)As grown on (311)A gives rise to quantum wire-like islands. Quantum dots (QDs), but with highly anisotropic shapes, are the outcomes of InAs deposition. QD samples were also characterized by photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Correlation between optical and morphological properties was observed.     

Carrier spin polarization in ferromagnet-semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs structures

The effect of ferromagnetic layers on the spin polarization of holes and electrons in ferromagnet-semiconductor superlattices with a fixed Mn δ-layer thickness of 0.11 nm and different GaAs interlayer thicknesses varying in the range from 2.5 to 14.4 nm and a fixed number of periods (40) is studied by means of hot-electron photoluminescence (HPL). Here, our study of the HPL demonstrates that the holes in δ-layers of (Ga,Mn)As DMS occupy predominantly the Mn acceptor impurity band. The width of the impurity band decreases with the increase of the interlayer distance. We also found that an increase in the GaAs interlayer thickness softens the magnetic properties of the ferromagnetic layers as well as reduces the carrier polarization. It is demonstrated that the hole spin polarization in the DMS layers and spin polarization of electrons in nonmagnetic GaAs are proportional to the sample magnetization.     

Intrinsic spin fluctuations reveal the dynamical response function of holes coupled to nuclear spin baths in (In,Ga)As quantum dots

The problem of how single central spins interact with a nuclear spin bath is essential for understanding decoherence and relaxation in many quantum systems, yet is highly nontrivial owing to the many-body couplings involved. Different models yield widely varying time scales and dynamical responses (exponential, power-law, gaussian, etc.). Here we detect the small random fluctuations of central spins in thermal equilibrium [holes in singly charged (In,Ga)As quantum dots] to reveal the time scales and functional form of bath-induced spin relaxation. This spin noise indicates long (400 ns) spin correlation times at a zero magnetic field that increase to ～5 μs as dominant hole-nuclear relaxation channels are suppressed with small (100 G) applied fields. Concomitantly, the noise line shape evolves from Lorentzian to power law, indicating a crossover from exponential to slow [～1/log(t)] dynamics.     

Quantum light emission of two lateral tunnel-coupled (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots controlled by a tunable static electric field

Lateral quantum coupling between two self-assembled (In,Ga)As quantum dots has been observed. Photon statistics measurements between the various excitonic and biexcitonic transitions of these lateral quantum dot molecules display strong antibunching confirming the presence of coupling. Furthermore, we observe an anomalous exciton Stark shift with respect to static electric field. A simple model indicates that the lateral coupling is due to electron tunneling between the dots when the ground states are in resonance. The electron probability can then be shifted to either dot and the system can be used to create a wavelength-tunable single-photon emitter by simply applying a voltage.     

Optical properties of 1.3 μm room temperature emitting InAs quantum dots covered by In0.4Ga0.6As/GaAs hetero-capping layer

Room temperature 1.3 μm emitting InAs quantum dots (QDs) covered by an In_0.4Ga_0.6As/GaAs strain reducing layer (SRL) have been fabricated by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (SSMBE) using the Stranski–Krastanov growth mode. The sample used has been investigated by temperature and excitation power dependent photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence excitation (PLE), and time resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) experiments. Three emission peaks are apparent in the low temperature PL spectrum. We have found, through PLE measurement, a single quantum dot ground state and the corresponding first excited state with relatively large energy spacing. This attribute has been confirmed by TRPL measurements which allow comparison of the dynamics of the ground state with that of the excited states. Optical transitions related to the InGaAs quantum well have been also identified. Over the whole temperature range, the PL intensity is found to exhibit an anomalous increase with increasing temperatures up to 100 K and then followed by a drop by three orders of magnitude. Carrier’s activation energy out of the quantum dots is found to be close to the energy difference between each two subsequent transition energies. PACS 68.65.Ac; 68.65.Hb; 78.67.Hc