Proper In deposition amount for on-demand epitaxy of InAs/GaAs single quantum dots

The test-QD in-situ annealing method could surmount the critical nucleation condition of InAs/GaAs single quantum dots（SQDs） to raise the growth repeatability.Here,through many growth tests on rotating substrates,we develop a proper In deposition amount（θ） for SQD growth,according to the measured critical θ for test QD nucleation（θ;）.The proper ratio θ/θ;,with a large tolerance of the variation of the real substrate temperature(T;),is 0.964-0.971 at the edge and> 0.989 but < 0.996 in the center of a 1/4-piece semi-insulating wafer,and around 0.9709 but < 0.9714 in the center of a 1/4-piece N;wafer as shown in the evolution of QD size and density as θ/θ;varies.Bright SQDs with spectral lines at 905 nm-935 nm nucleate at the edge and correlate with individual 7 nm-8 nm-height QDs in atomic force microscopy,among dense 1 nm-5 nm-height small QDs with a strong spectral profile around 860 nm-880 nm.The higher T;in the center forms diluter,taller and uniform QDs,and very dilute SQDs for a proper θ/θ;:only one 7-nm-height SQD in25 μm;.On a 2-inch（1 inch = 2.54 cm） semi-insulating wafer,by using θ/θ;= 0.961,SQDs nucleate in a circle in 22%of the whole area.More SQDs will form in the broad high-T;region in the center by using a proper θ/θ;.

Optical trapping of single quantum dots for cavity quantum electrodynamics

We report here a nanostructure that traps single quantum dots for studying strong cavity-emitter coupling. The nanostructure is designed with two elliptical holes in a thin silver patch and a slot that connects the holes. This structure has two functionalities:(1) tweezers for optical trapping;(2) a plasmonic resonant cavity for quantum electrodynamics. The electromagnetic response of the cavity is calculated by finite-difference time-domain(FDTD) simulations, and the optical force is characterized based on the Maxwell's stress tensor method. To be tweezers, this structure tends to trap quantum dots at the edges of its tips where light is significantly confined. To be a plasmonic cavity, its plasmonic resonant mode interacts strongly with the trapped quantum dots due to the enhanced electric field. Rabi splitting and anti-crossing phenomena are observed in the calculated scattering spectra, demonstrating that a strong-coupling regime has been achieved. The method present here provides a robust way to position a single quantum dot in a nanocavity for investigating cavity quantum electrodynamics.

Size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single InAs/GaAs quantum dots

This paper studies the size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single quantum dots （QDs） by using atomic force microscopy and micro-photoluminescence measurements. It finds that the biexciton binding energies in the QDs show ＂binding＂ and ＂antibinding＂ properties which correspond to the large and small sizes of QDs, respectively. The experimental results can be well interpreted by the biexciton potential curve, calculated from the exciton molecular model and the Heitler London method.

Rapid and robust control of single quantum dots

The combination of single particle detection and ultrafast laser pulses is an instrumental method to track dynamics at the femtosecond time scale in single molecules,quantum dots and plasmonic nanoparticles.Optimal control of the extremely short-lived coherences of these individual systems has so far remained elusive,yet its successful implementation would enable arbitrary external manipulation of otherwise inaccessible nanoscale dynamics.In ensemble measurements,such control is often achieved by resorting to a closed-loop optimization strategy,where the spectral phase of a broadband laser field is iteratively optimized.This scheme needs long measurement times and strong signals to converge to the optimal solution.This requirement is in conflict with the nature of single emitters whose signals are weak and unstable.Here we demonstrate an effective closed-loop optimization strategy capable of addressing single quantum dots at room temperature,using as feedback observable the two-photon photoluminescence induced by a phase-controlled broadband femtosecond laser.Crucial to the optimization loop is the use of a deterministic and robust-against-noise search algorithm converging to the theoretically predicted solution in a reduced amount of steps,even when operating at the few-photon level.Full optimization of the single dot luminescence is obtained within~100 trials,with a typical integration time of 100 ms per trial.These times are faster than the typical photobleaching times in single molecules at room temperature.Our results show the suitability of the novel approach to perform closed-loop optimizations on single molecules,thus extending the available experimental toolbox to the active control of nanoscale coherences.

The role of surface charges in the blinking mechanisms and quantum-confined Stark effect of single colloidal quantum dots

The two frequently observed phenomena,photoluminescence(PL)blinking and quantum-confined Stark effect(QCSE)-induced spectral diffusion,are not conducive to the applications of colloidal quantum dots(QDs).It remains elusive how these two phenomena are linked to each other.Unraveling the potential link between blinking and QCSE could facilitate the adoption of appropriate strategies that can simultaneously suppress both PL blinking and spectral diffusion.In this work,we investigated the blinking mechanism and QCSE of single CdSe/CdS/ZnS QDs in the presence of positive and negative surface charges using single-dot PL spectroscopy.We found that the negative surface charges can simultaneously suppress PL blinking and spectral diffusion of single QDs.On the other hand,the positive surface charges could change the blinking mechanisms of QDs from Auger-blinking to band-edge carrier(BC)-blinking.Two types of QCSE were observed,and a significant QCSE-induced spectral broadening of 5.25 nm was measured,which could be attributed to the hopping of surface charges between different surface-trap sites.Based on these findings,several theoretical models are proposed to explain various phenomena observed.

基于量子干涉消除量子点纠缠光子源时间关联的研究

作为高效率的确定性固态量子光源,半导体量子点展现了具有高纠缠保真度的偏振纠缠光子发射,并被应用于量子信息领域.但是,在级联跃迁产生纠缠光子的过程中,时间关联效应会导致光子的不可分辨性受限,因此极大地限制了半导体量子点在多光子实验中的可拓展性.本文通过在偏振分束器上进行量子干涉,量子点发射光子的偏振自由度和时间自由度发生了分离,从而消除了时间关联对偏振纠缠的影响.基于以上方案,在实验上,四光子Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger(GHZ)态保真度从(58.7±2.2)%提升至(75.5±2.0)%.这项工作展现了利用半导体量子点纠缠光子源有望实现可拓展、高品质的多光子纠缠态,从而促进光学量子信息的发展.