Floquet engineering of electronic states and optical absorption in laterally-coupled quantum rings under a magnetic field.

Abstract

Tuning electronic and optical properties of low-dimensional quantum systems in a flexible way is of particular importance in designing semiconductor-based devices. Semiconductor quantum rings (QRs) are nanoscopic structures that have become promising systems for physical and technological applications due to their unique electronic and optical properties. Here, we explore the fundamental electronic and optical properties of laterally-coupled QRs by taking into account the combined effects of applied magnetic and non-resonant terahertz intense laser fields. The laser-dressed electronic states are solved using the Floquet theory of periodically driven quantum systems in high-frequency limits within the framework of effective mass approximation. We demonstrate that increasing the laser field parameter leads to reduced tunnel splitting in the energy spectrum and more pronounced Aharonov-Bohm oscillations for the ground state energy, due to the attenuation of the tunnel coupling. Furthermore, depending on the position of the avoided crossings in Aharonov-Bohm oscillations of laterally-coupled quantum rings, the evolution of the avoided crossings with increasing the laser field parameter can be elucidated as the attenuated tunnel coupling or the competition between the attenuated tunnel coupling and the strengthening anisotropy of the laser-dressed QR potential well. The intensity of the intraband optical transition of laterally-coupled QRs can be effectively tuned and reaches a larger value by manipulating the laser parameter and magnetic field. Optical Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in laterally-coupled QRs are still exhibited by changing laser field parameters. Our findings offer a novel approach to manipulate the electronic and optical performances as well as the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations based on the laterally-coupled QRs by using an intense terahertz laser field.