GaAs Quantum Dots Research Articles

Experimentally-Verified Modeling of InGaAs Quantum Dots.

We develop a model of an epitaxial self-organized InGaAs quantum dot buried in GaAs, which takes into account experimentally determined indium distribution inside the QD, its geometry and crystallography. The problem of solid mechanics was solved to determine the stress-strain field. Then, the parameters of the electron and hole ground states were evaluated by solving the problem of the quantum mechanics on the same mesh. The results of calculations appeared to be reasonably well consistent with experimentally recorded optical emission spectra for the QDs in the same sample. The experimentally-verified modeling reveals a bagel-like shape of the hole wave function at the ground state, which should considerably impact the optical and magnetic properties of the QDs. Such shape of the wave function is beyond the predictions of simplified models with uniform indium distribution.

Improvement of thermal resistance in InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs microdisk lasers bonded onto silicon

Epi-side down bonding on a silicon substrate of AlGaAs/GaAs microdisk lasers is presented. A heterostructure with coupled large optical cavities enables location of an InGaAs quantum dot active region at a distance of ∼1 µm from the heterostructure surface. The thermal resistance was reduced to 0.2 and 0.1 K mW−1 for disks of 30 and 50 µm in diameter, respectively. The maximum continuous-wave power limited by the thermal rollover is more than doubled after bonding.

Quantum interference of identical photons from remote GaAs quantum dots

Photonic quantum technology provides a viable route to quantum communication1,2, quantum simulation3 and quantum information processing4. Recent progress has seen the realization of boson sampling using 20 single photons3 and quantum key distribution over hundreds of kilometres2. Scaling the complexity requires architectures containing multiple photon sources, photon counters and a large number of indistinguishable single photons. Semiconductor quantum dots are bright and fast sources of coherent single photons5-9. For applications, a roadblock is the poor quantum coherence on interfering single photons created by independent quantum dots10,11. Here we demonstrate two-photon interference with near-unity visibility (93.0 ± 0.8)% using photons from two completely separate GaAs quantum dots. The experiment retains all the emission into the zero phonon line-only the weak phonon sideband is rejected; temporal post-selection is not employed. By exploiting quantum interference, we demonstrate a photonic controlled-not circuit and an entanglement with fidelity of (85.0 ± 1.0)% between photons of different origins. The two-photon interference visibility is high enough that the entanglement fidelity is well above the classical threshold. The high mutual coherence of the photons stems from high-quality materials, diode structure and relatively large quantum dot size. Our results establish a platform-GaAs quantum dots-for creating coherent single photons in a scalable way.

Full wafer property control of local droplet etched GaAs quantum dots

We present strategies for controlling growth parameters of local droplet etched GaAs quantum dots. We manage the local QD density and emission wavelength by gradient material deposition. We find regions with no light-emitting quantum dots sharply separated from regions with strong quantum dot luminescence. Close to this transition, we expect the lowest quantum dot densities possible under the used parameters. The maximum wavelength shift achieved due to a variation of GaAs hole filling level on a single 3-inch wafer ranges from 731to 795 nm. By locally controlling the surface roughness, a profound additional influence on the emission wavelength and density is found. We show how to control this modulation on a millimeter-scale over the whole wafer.

Bright Single-Photon Sources for the Telecommunication O-Band Based on an InAs Quantum Dot with (In)GaAs Asymmetric Barriers in a Photonic Nanoantenna

We report on single-photon emitters for the telecommunication O-band (1260–1360 nm), which comprise an InAs/(In)GaAs quantum dot with asymmetric barriers, placed inside a semiconductor tapered nanocolumn acting as a photonic nanoantenna. The implemented design of the barriers provides a shift in the quantum dot radiation wavelength towards the O-band, while the nanoantenna collects the radiation and ensures its effective output. With non-resonant optical pumping, the average count rate of emitted single photons exceeds 10 MHz with the second-order correlation function (0) = 0.18 at 8 K.

Local droplet etching on InAlAs/InP surfaces with InAl droplets

GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by local droplet etching (LDE) have been studied extensively in recent years. The LDE method allows for high crystallinity, as well as precise control of the density, morphology, and size of QDs. These properties make GaAs QDs an ideal candidate as single photon and entangled photon sources at short wavelengths (<800 nm). For technologically important telecom wavelengths, however, it is still unclear whether LDE grown QDs can be realized. Controlling the growth conditions does not enable shifting the wavelength of GaAs QDs to the telecom region. New recipes will have to be established. In this work, we study Indium–Aluminum (InAl) droplet etching on ultra-smooth In0.55Al0.45As surfaces on InP substrates, with a goal to lay the foundation for growing symmetrical and strain-free telecom QDs using the LDE method. We report that both droplets start to etch nanoholes at a substrate temperature above 415 °C, showing varying nanohole morphology and rapidly changing density (by more than one order of magnitude) at different temperatures. Al and In droplets are found to not intermix during etching, and instead etch nanoholes individually. The obtained nanoholes show a symmetric profile and very low densities, enabling infilling of lattice-matched InGaAs QDs on InxAl1−xAs/InP surfaces in further works.

Molecular‐Beam Epitaxy Growth and Properties of AlGaAs Nanowires with InGaAs Nanostructures

Combinations of III–V nanowires (NWs) with quantum dots (QDs) are promising building blocks for quantum light sources. Herein, for the first time, the results of growing AlGaAs NWs with InGaAs QDs by molecular‐beam epitaxy on a silicon substrate are shown. The optimal growth temperature is determined and the physical properties of the grown nanostructures are studied. It is shown that the grown nanostructures exhibit photoluminescence (PL) signal up to room temperature in a wide wavelength range, including 1.3 μm emission which is important for the optical fiber transmission. It is found that in addition to InGaAs QDs radial InGaAs quantum wells are formed inside the NWs as a result of lateral/axial InGaAs growth competition. The proposed technology opens up new possibilities for the integration of direct‐band III–V materials with the silicon platform for various applications in the field of silicon photonics and quantum communication technology.

Optical properties and conductivity of biased GaAs quantum dots

We report the intraband optical absorption influence on the tunneling currents in biased gallium arsenide quantum dots. The energy levels and tunneling times are calculated using a complex eigenvalue formalism through an axisymmetrical two-dimensional finite element method. The absorption coefficient and the relative change of the refractive index are evaluated by taking into account a variable intraband relaxation time. A field-invariable relaxation, as it was often assumed by previous theoretical models, cannot be justifiable even for moderate electric fields. On the one hand, our work shows that the electron escape probability and implicitly the tunneling current may be controlled by the resonant optical field. Optically switching the QDs from lower to higher conductivity states is shown to be feasible. On the other hand, at high values of the electric field the tunneling-related electronic linewidth broadening blue-shifts and enlarges the absorption peaks, thus reducing the resonant nature of the intraband transitions.

Photoneutralization of charges in GaAs quantum dot based entangled photon emitters

Semiconductor-based emitters of pairwise photonic entanglement are a promising constituent of photonic quantum technologies. They are known for the ability to generate discrete photonic states on-demand with low multiphoton emission, near-unity entanglement fidelity, and high single photon indistinguishability. However, quantum dots typically suffer from luminescence blinking, lowering the efficiency of the source and hampering their scalable application in quantum networks. In this paper, we investigate and adjust the intermittence of the neutral exciton emission in a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dot under two-photon resonant excitation of the neutral biexciton. We investigate the spectral and quantum optical response of the quantum dot emission to an additional wavelength tunable gate laser, revealing blinking caused by the intrinsic Coulomb blockade due to charge capture processes. Our finding demonstrates that the emission quenching can be actively suppressed by controlling the balance of free electrons and holes in the vicinity of the quantum dot and thereby significantly increasing the quantum efficiency by $30%$.

A theoretical study of the effects of Thomas–Fermi and Hermanson’s dielectric functions and temperature on photoionization cross-section of a donor impurity in GaAs quantum dots of circular and rectangular cross-sections

A theoretical study of the effects of Thomas–Fermi and Hermanson’s dielectric functions and temperature on photoionization cross-section of a donor impurity in GaAs quantum dots of circular and rectangular cross-sections

Carrier Injection to In0.4Ga0.6As/GaAs Surface Quantum Dots in Coupled Hybrid Nanostructures

Stacking growth of the InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) on top of a carrier injection layer is a very useful strategy to develop QD devices. This research aims to study the carrier injection effect in hybrid structures with a layer of In0.4Ga0.6As surface quantum dots (SQDs), coupled to an injection layer of either one layer of In0.4Ga0.6As buried QDs (BQDs) or an In0.15Ga0.85As quantum well (QW), both through a 10 nm GaAs thin spacer. Spectroscopic measurements show that carrier capture and emission efficiency for SQDs in the BQD injection structure is better than that of the QW injection, due to strong physical and electrical coupling between the two QD layers. In the case of QW injection, although most carriers can be collected into the QW, they then tunnel into the wetting layer of the SQDs and are subsequently lost to surface states via non-radiative recombination. Therefore, the QW as an injection source for SQDs may not work as well as the BQDs for stacking coupled SQDs structures.

Dimension-Dependent Phenomenological Model of Excitonic Electric Dipole in InGaAs Quantum Dots.

Permanent electric dipole is a key property for effective control of semiconductor quantum-dot-based sources of quantum light. For theoretical prediction of that, complex geometry-dependent quantum simulations are necessary. Here, we use simulations of exciton transition in InGaAs quantum dots to derive a simple geometry-dependent analytical model of dipole. Our model, discussed here, enables reasonably good estimation of the electric dipole, caused in quantum dot by the elastic strain, including an externally induced one. Due to its apparent simplicity, not necessitating elaborate and time-consuming simulations, it might after experimental verification serve as a preferred choice for experimentalists enabling them to make quick estimates of built-in and induced electric dipole in quantum dots.

Laser-controlled ultrafast nonlinear optical responses of interacting e–h pairs in electromagnetically coupled GaAs quantum dots

In this paper, by applying generalized density-matrix equations, we explore the ultrafast dynamics of photo-generated electron–hole pairs in the system composed of electromagnetically coupled GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots and reveal the physics mechanism behind laser-controlled nonlinear-optical response of electron–hole pairs. For the single-dot system, we present numerical results to show the transient dependence of carrier occupations and induced quantum coherence of electron–hole pairs in the presence of either a single or double laser pulses, as well as for a step turning-on of the laser field. For a dipole-radiation coupled double-dot system, we study numerically the time dependence of both intradot and interdot self-consistent depolarization fields within and between two dots, respectively. Meanwhile, we further demonstrate the significance of phase matching between induced depolarization fields and incident-laser pulse in order to maximize the stimulated transitions of electron–hole pairs and ensure non-quenched Rabi oscillations in each quantum dot. The employed theoretical model and the associated numerical analysis method are expected to facilitate designing and developing artificial quantum molecules composed of arbitrarily dielectric-embedded quantum dots with non-local quantum interactions and entanglement, as well as optically manipulating electron states of artificial quantum molecules.

Pauli Blockade of Tunable Two-Electron Spin and Valley States in Graphene Quantum Dots

Pauli blockade mechanisms-whereby carrier transport through quantum dots (QD) is blocked due to selection rules even when energetically allowed-are a direct manifestation of the Pauli exclusion principle, as well as a key mechanism for manipulating and reading out spin qubits. The Pauli spin blockade is well established for systems such as GaAs QDs, but is to be further explored for systems with additional degrees of freedom, such as the valley quantum numbers in carbon-based materials or silicon. Here we report experiments on coupled bilayer graphene double quantum dots, in which the spin and valley states are precisely controlled, enabling the observation of the two-electron combined blockade physics. We demonstrate that the doubly occupied single dot switches between two different ground states with gate and magnetic-field tuning, allowing for the switching of selection rules: with a spin-triplet-valley-singlet ground state, valley blockade is observed; and with the spin-singlet-valley-triplet ground state, robust spin blockade is shown.

Effect of bismuth surfactant on the structural, morphological and optical properties of self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy on GaAs (001) substrates

In this work, we have investigated the effect of Bi surfactant on structural, morphological and optical properties of 5 monolayers self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on GaAs (001) substrates at various growth temperatures (435, 467 and 495 °C) by Molecular Beam Epitaxy. Two types of InGaAs QDs samples grown with and without exposure to bismuth were studied using Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Photoluminescence (PL). Our results have demonstrated that Bi-mediated growth provides improved control of several properties of InGaAs QDs including an enhancement of the QD PL peak intensity by 1.7 times as compared to InGaAs/GaAs control sample grown without Bi. In addition, a red-shift of the PL peak energy of about 40 meV was also observed when the InGaAs QDs were grown by using Bi evidencing that Bi surfactant affects considerably the size of QDs. Furthermore, the QDs grown with Bi surfactant exhibited a higher degree of size uniformity as demonstrated by the observation of narrower Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of the PL peaks. We have also shown that both Bi surfactant and substrate temperature play an important role to control the density of InGaAs QDs. The QD density decreased from 8.9 × 1010 cm−2 (control sample) to 2.0 × 1010 cm−2 for the sample grown at the lowest temperature of 435 °C under Bi flux. All these approaches to control and improve the properties of self-assembled QDs are important for device applications that require high optical efficiency and low QD density.

Imaging the electrostatic landscape of unstrained self-assemble GaAs quantum dots

Unstrained GaAs quantum dots are promising candidates for quantum information devices due to their optical properties, but their electronic properties have remained relatively unexplored until now. In this work, we systematically investigate the electronic structure and natural charging of GaAs quantum dots at room temperature using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). We observe a clear electrical signal from these structures demonstrating a lower surface potential in the middle of the dot. We ascribe this to charge accumulation and confinement inside these structures. Our systematical investigation reveals that the change in surface potential is larger for a nominal dot filling of 2 nm and then starts to decrease for thicker GaAs layers. Using k · p calculation, we show that the confinement comes from the band bending due to the surface Fermi level pinning. We find a correlation between the calculated charge density and the KPFM signal indicating that k · p calculations could be used to estimate the KPFM signal for a given structure. Our results suggest that these self-assembled structures could be used to study physical phenomena connected to charged quantum dots like Coulomb blockade or Kondo effect.

Formation of InGaAs quantum dots in the body of AlGaAs nanowires via molecular-beam epitaxy

The results of experimental studies on the synthesis by molecular-beam epitaxy of AlGaAs nanowires with InGaAs quantum dots are presented. It was shown that, as in the case of the InP/InAsP material system, the formation of predominantly two objects is observed in the body of AlGaAs nanowire: InGaAs quantum dot due to axial growth and InGaAs quantum well due to radial growth. It is important to note that the grown nanostructures were formed predominantly in the wurtzite crystallographic phase. The results of the grown nanostructures physical properties studies indicate that they are promising for moving single-photon sources to the long-wavelength region. The proposed technology opens up new possibilities for integration direct-gap III-V materials with a silicon platform for various applications in photonics and quantum communications. Keywords: semiconductors, nanowires, quantum dots, III-V compounds, silicon, molecular-beam epitaxy.

Charge carrier localization in InAs self-organized quantum dots

We considered the problem of localization of electrons and holes taking for instance the pyramidal InAs quantum dots in GaAs. The problem of quantum mechanics was solved for the localizing potential taking into account the geometry, chemical composition and built-in fields of the mechanical stress and strain. We found that the strongest localization of both types of charge carriers can be achieved if the ratio of the pyramid height to its base is about 0.2. Keywords: quantum dots, elastic strain, charge carrier localization.

Charge carrier localization in InAs self-organized quantum dots

We considered the problem of localization of electrons and holes taking for instance the pyramidal InAs quantum dots in GaAs. The problem of quantum mechanics was solved for the localizing potential taking into account the geometry, chemical composition and built-in fields of the mechanical stress and strain. We found that the strongest localization of both types of charge carriers can be achieved if the ratio of the pyramid height to its base is about 0.2. Keywords: quantum dots, elastic strain, charge carrier localization.

Формирование InGaAs-квантовых точек в теле AlGaAs-нитевидных нанокристаллов при молекулярно-пучковой эпитаксии

The results of experimental studies on the synthesis by molecular-beam epitaxy of AlGaAs nanowires with InGaAs quantum dots are presented. It was shown that, as in the case of the InP/InAsP material system, the formation of predominantly two objects is observed in the body of AlGaAs nanowire: InGaAs quantum dot due to axial growth and InGaAs quantum well due to radial growth. It is important to note that the grown nanostructures were formed predominantly in the wurtzite crystallographic phase. The results of the grown nanostructures physical properties studies indicate that they are promising for moving single-photon sources to the long-wavelength region. The proposed technology opens up new possibilities for integration direct-gap III−V materials with a silicon platform for various applications in photonics and quantum communications.