Control of Wigner localization and electron cavity effects in near-field emission spectra of In(Ga)P/GaInP quantum-dot structures

Abstract

Structural and emission properties of few-electron In(Ga)P/GaInP quantum dots (QDs) representing natural Wigner molecules (WM) and whispering gallery mode (WGM) electron ($e$) cavities have been investigated. QD structures were grown using self-organized metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy and deposition from $\ensuremath{\sim}3$ to 7 monolayers of InP at $700{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}\mathrm{C}$. Using atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM), and $\ensuremath{\mu}$-photoluminescence ($\ensuremath{\mu}$-PL) spectra we obtained In(Ga)P/GaInP QDs having lateral size 80--180 nm, height 5--30 nm, Ga content 0.0--0.4, density $2\ensuremath{-}10\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}{\mathrm{m}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$, and electron population up to 20 and demonstrated control of their density and size distribution. Using high-spatial-resolution low-temperature PL spectra, NSOM imaging, and calculations of charge density distributions we observed Wigner localization and $e$-cavity effects for a series of dots having quantum confinement $\ensuremath{\hbar}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{0}=0.5\ensuremath{-}6\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{meV}$. We used these data together with time-resolved PL measurements to clarify the effect of Coulomb interaction and WM formation on emission spectra of few-electron QDs. We present direct observation of $2e$, $6e$, and $9e$ WMs; $2e$ and $4e$ WGMs; and Fabry-Perot $e$ modes and establish conditions of $e$-WGM-cavity formation in these QDs.