Electron–phonon interaction in CdS/ZnS quantum dot

Electron–phonon effects on the two first electronic states in both CdS and GaAs quantum dots are investigated. Both confined longitudinal optical (LO) and surface optical (SO) phonons are considered. We use the intermediate-type variational approach. We find that, shifts caused by phonon contribution on electronic energies are more significant for CdS quantum dot. We find, also, that, contrary to GaAs based quantum dots, we shouldn’t neglect the SO phonon contribution for CdS based ones, especially for small dots.     

Coherent electronic properties of coupled two-dimensional quantum dot arrays

In this paper we review our recent study of coherent electronic properties of coupled two-dimensional quantum dot arrays using numerical exact-diagonalization methods on a Mott–Hubbard type correlated tight-binding model. We predict the existence of a novel kind of persistent current in a two-dimensionalisolatedarray of quantum dots in a transverse magnetic field. We calculate the conductance spectrum for resonant tunneling transport through a coherent two-dimensional array of quantum dots in the Coulomb Blockade regime. We also calculate the effective two-terminal capacitance of an array coupled to bias leads.     

Theoretical study of quantum confined Stark shift in InAs／GaAs quantum dots

The quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) of the self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots has been investigated theoretically. The ground-state transition energies for quantum dots in the shape of a cube, pyramid or “truncated pyramid” are calculated and analysed. We use a method based on the Green function technique for calculating thestrain in quantum dots and an efficient plane-wave envelope-function technique to determine the ground-state electronic structure of them with different shapes. The symmetry of quantum dots is broken by the effect of strain. So the properties of carriers show different behaviours from the traditional quantum device. Based on these results, we also calculate permanent built-in dipole moments and compare them with recent experimental data. Our results demonstrate that the measured Stark effect in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot structures can be explained by including linear grading.     

Influences of lattice mismatches on equilibrium morphologies and strain distributions of quantum dots

The morphologies of quantum dots and distributions of stresses in and around quantum dots structures have a significant effect on photoelectric properties and electronic structures. Optical and electronic devices of different efficiencies based on quantum dots can be manufactured by choosing self-assembly of different materials to control epitaxial growth. In this article we investigate the equilibrium morphologies and the strain distributions of self-assembled pyramidal semiconductor quantum dots in Stranski-Krastanov growth mode based on the finite element method of the anisotropic theory of elasticity. We also give the equilibrium morphologies and the distribution of the stress and the strain, the hydrostatic strain and the biaxial strain for different lattice mismatched quantum dots. The results can serve as a basis for interpretation of experiments.     

Electronic and optical properties of InAs/InP self-assembled quantum dots on patterned substrates

We present atomistic theory of electronic and optical properties of a single InAs quantum dot grown on a pyramidal InP nanotemplate. The shape and size of the dot is assumed to follow the nanotemplate shape and size. The electron and valence hole single particle states are calculated using atomistic effective–bond–orbital model with second nearest-neighbor interactions. The electronic calculations are coupled to separately calculated strain distribution via Bir–Pikus Hamiltonian. The optical properties of InAs dots embedded in InP pyramids are calculated by solving the many-exciton Hamiltonian for interacting electron and hole complexes using the configuration–interaction method. The effect of quantum-dot geometry on the optical spectra is investigated by a comparison between dots of different shapes.     

Pressure-induced modulation of the confinement in self-organized quantum dots produced and detected by a near-field optical probe

Near-field optical probing, or nanoprobing, achieves spatial resolution that surpasses the diffraction limit of light and makes possible the luminescence imaging and spectroscopy of single quantum dots in dense arrays of dots. We use optical nanoprobing to study self-organized InGaAs quantum dots grown on (3 1 1)B oriented GaAs substrates. Here, we emphasize a new feature of nanoprobing: pressure-induced strain modulation near the surface. Operating in near-field optical excitation–collection mode, the probe makes contact with the surface and exerts direct pressure whose main effect is a compressive uniaxial strain under the probe. By adjusting the applied pressure, we modulate the local strain environment in and around a quantum dot, but still preserve the capability to capture its near-field luminescence. Nanoprobe pressure effects modify the confinement potential and radiative emission of single quantum dots, and the coupling strength between dots. This opens new possibilities for the study and control of the optical and electronic properties of single- and coupled-quantum dots.     

硅量子点的形状及其弯曲表面效应

硅量子点的弯曲表面引起系统的对称性破缺, 致使某些表面键合在能带的带隙中形成局域电子态.计算结果表明:硅量子点的表面曲率不同形成的表面键合结合能和电子态分布明显不同. 例如, Si–O–Si桥键在曲率较大的表面键合能够在带隙中形成局域能级, 而在硅量子点曲率较小的近平台表面上键合不会形成任何局域态, 但此时的键合结合能较低. 用弯曲表面效应(CS)可以解释较小硅量子点的光致荧光光谱的红移现象. CS效应揭示了纳米物理中又一奇妙的特性. 实验证实, CS效应在带隙中形成的局域能级可以激活硅量子点发光. 关键词： 硅量子点 弯曲表面效应 表面键合 局域能级     

Optical properties of InAs quantum dots in a Si matrix

We report on the optical properties of nanoscale InAs quantum dots in a Si matrix. At a growth temperature of 400°C, the deposition of 7 ML InAs leads to the formation of coherent islands with dimensions in the 2–4 nm range with a high sheet density. Samples with such InAs quantum dots show a luminescence band in the 1.3 μm region for temperatures up to 170 K. The PL shows a pronounced blue shift with increasing excitation density and decays with a time constant of 440 ns. The optical properties suggest an indirect type II transition for the InAs/Si quantum dots. The electronic structure of InAs/Si QDs is discussed in view of available band offset information.     

<Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">g</Emphasis> -factor engineering and control in self-assembled quantum dots

The knowledge of electron and hole g-factors, in particular their control and engineering, is the key to the use of the spin degree of freedom for information processing in solid-state systems. The electronic g-factor will be material-dependent, the effect being larger for materials with large spin–orbit coupling. Since electrons can be individually trapped in quantum dots in a controllable manner, they may represent a good platform for the implementation of quantum information processing devices. Here we use self-assembled quantum dots of InAs embedded in GaAs for the g-factor control and engineering. PACS 81.07.Ta; 73.22.Dj; 73.63.Kv     

Enhancement of the Coulomb correlations in type-II quantum dots

We report on calculation of binding energies of excitons as well as positively and negatively charged excitons and biexcitons in type-II quantum dots. The shape of the GaSb/GaAs quantum dot is assumed lens-like and the energies are calculated within the Hartree–Fock approximation. A large enhancement of the binding energies has been estimated in comparison with the type-I quantum dots (InAs/GaAs) which is in good agreement with the recent experimental findings.     

Spin excitations in few-electrons AlGaAs/GaAs quantum dots probed by inelastic light scattering

We present recent studies of electronic excitations in nanofabricated AlGaAs/GaAs semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) by resonant inelastic light scattering. The resonant light scattering spectra are dominated by excitations from parity-allowed inter-shell transitions between Fock–Darwin levels. In QDs with very few electrons the resonant spectra are characterized by distinct charge and spin excitations that reveal the strong impact of both exchange and correlation effects. A sharp inter-shell spin excitation of the triplet spin QD state with four electrons is identified.     

半导体量子点中极化子的跃迁能量

研究了半导体量子点中极化子的激发态性质。采用Huybrechts线性组合算符和幺正变换方法,计算了量子点中极化子的振动频率、基态能量、第一激发态能量、由第一激发态向基态的跃迁能量和跃迁频率。分别讨论了电子-LO声子在强弱两种耦合情况下极化子的跃迁能量和跃迁频率。数值计算结果表明,跃迁能量ΔE和跃迁频率ω均随量子点有效受限长度l₀的增加而减少,且随电子-声子耦合强度α的增加而减少。     

Spin relaxation and antiferromagnetic coupling in semiconductor quantum dots

We report carrier spin dynamics in highly uniform self-assembled InAs quantum dots and the observation of antiferromagnetic coupling between semiconductor quantum dots. The spin relaxation times in the ground state and the first excited state were measured to be 1.0 and 0.6 ns, respectively, without the disturbance of inhomogeneous broadening. The measured spin relaxation time decreases rapidly from 1.1 ns at 10 K to 200 ps at 130 K. This large change in the spin relaxation time is well-explained in terms of the mechanism of acoustic phonon emission. In coupled quantum dots, the formation of antiferromagnetic coupling is directly observed. Electron spins are found to flip at 80 ps after photoexcitation via the interdot exchange interaction. The antiferromagnetic coupling exists at temperatures lower than 50–80 K. A model calculation based on the Heitler–London approximation supports the finding that the antiferromagnetic coupling is observable at low temperature. These carrier spin features in quantum dots are suitable for the future quantum computation.     

Spectral manifestations of hybrid association of CdS colloidal quantum dots with methylene blue molecules

We have studied the spectral properties of mixtures formed by CdS colloidal quantum dots with an average diameter of 2.5 nm and methylene blue molecules and that are dispersed into gelatin. We have revealed that, in the presence of CdS quantum dots, the luminescence intensity of methylene blue increases. We suggest a model of this effect, which is based on electronic excitation energy transfer from luminescence centers of CdS quantum dots to methylene blue molecules.     

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).     

Electron Spins in Quantum Dots as Quantum Bits

The creation, coherent manipulation, and measurement of spins in nanostructures open up completely new possibilities for electronics and information processing, among them quantum computing and quantum communication. We review our theoretical proposal for using electron spins in quantum dots as quantum bits, explaining why this scheme satisfies all the essential requirements for quantum computing. We include a discussion of the recent measurements of surprisingly long spin coherence times in semiconductors. Quantum gate mechanisms in laterally and vertically tunnel-coupled quantum dots and methods for single-spin measurements are introduced. We discuss detection and transport of electronic EPR pairs in normal and superconducting systems.     

HgSe:Fe quantum dots: growth and characterization

Mercury selenide and its ternary and quaternary modifications in the form Hg(A,B)Se with A, B magnetic ions, provide an interesting semiconductor family featuring different kinds of correlation effects. These effects manifest themselves already in three-dimensional, quasi-two-dimensional, and quasi-one-dimensional structures. We have succeeded now in fabricating HgSe:Fe quantum dots using three different growing procedures based on molecular beam epitaxy: (a) Stranski–Krastanov growth; (b) thermally activated surface reorganization; (c) pit filling. The special feature of the HgSe:Fe dots is the intrinsic population of the dot states by electrons, where a large amount of about 50–500 electrons form a many-electron system within a single dot. The formation of the dots was controlled in situ by RHEED. The morphology of the resulting structures was characterized by AFM. Subsequently, the electronic properties of the dots were investigated by megagauss magneto spectroscopy, indicating the presence of strong correlation effects as manifested in a 50% increase of the cyclotron mass in respect to that of structures with a higher dimensionality.     

Ultrafast carrier dynamics of resonantly excited InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We study theoretically the time development of electronic relaxation in quantum dots. We consider the process of relaxation of the state with an electron prepared at the beginning of relaxation in the electronic ground state. We obtain a fast (in picoseconds) increase of electronic population in the excited state. Also, we consider the process of relaxation of an electron from an excited state in the dot. Here we obtain an incomplete depopulation of the electron from the excited state. We compare these results to experiments in which a fast decrease of luminescence is reported during the first period of relaxation after resonant excitation of the ground state. We estimate numerically the role of electron–LO–phonon (Fröhlich's coupling) mechanism in these processes. We show that this effect may be attributed to the influence of multiple scattering of quantum dot electrons on LO phonons. A single-electron two-energy-level quantum dot model is used to demonstrate this effect in an isolated semiconductor quantum dot.     

Electronic states of self-organized InGaAs quantum dots on GaAs (3 1 1)B studied by conductive scanning probe microscope

We have used conductive scanning probe microscope (SPM) in high vacuum and operated at 173 K in order to investigate the electronic properties of self-organized InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on GaAs (3 1 1)B and (0 0 1) substrates. Ordered InGaAs quantum dot arrays on GaAs (3 1 1)B surface were fabricated by atomic-H assisted molecular beam epitaxy (H-MBE), and Si SPM tips coated with Au which warrants electrical conductivity were used to measure simultaneously both the topographic and current images of QDs surface. From the current–voltage (I–V) curves, unique and different plateau features were observed for QDs formed on GaAs (3 1 1)B and (0 0 1) substrates. The results suggested that a high degree of symmetry of InGaAs QDs on (3 1 1)B was responsible for the observed degeneracy of electronic states and artificial atom-like states. We demonstrate that this conductive SPM technique becomes a powerful tool in studies of single electron charging of individual dots.