No Arabic abstract
We show that through the resonant optical excitation of spin-polarized excitons into CdMnTe magnetic quantum dots, we can induce a macroscopic magnetization of the Mn impurities. We observe very broad (4 meV linewidth) emission lines of single dots, which are consistent with the formation of strongly confined exciton magnetic polarons. Therefore we attribute the optically induced magnetization of the magnetic dots results to the formation of spin-polarized exciton magnetic polarons. We find that the photo-induced magnetization of magnetic polarons is weaker for larger dots which emit at lower energies within the QD distribution. We also show that the photo-induced magnetization is stronger for quantum dots with lower Mn concentration, which we ascribe to weaker Mn-Mn interaction between the nearest neighbors within the dots. Due to particular stability of the exciton magnetic polarons in QDs, where the localization of the electrons and holes is comparable to the magnetic exchange interaction, this optically induced spin alignment persists to temperatures as high as 160 K.
We demonstrate that resonant excitation of CdMnTe self-assembled quantum dots creates an ensemble of spin-polarized magnetic polarons at B=0 T. The strong spatial confinement characteristic of quantum dots significantly increases the stability of magnetic polarons so that the optically induced spin alignment is observed for temperatures > 120 K.
We show that CdMnTe self-assembled quantum dots can be formed by depositing a submonolayer of Mn ions over a ZnTe surface prior to deposition of the CdTe dot layer. Single dot emission lines and strongly polarized quantum dot photoluminescence in an applied magnetic field confirm the presence of Mn in individual quantum dots. The width of PL lines of the single CdMnTe dots is 3 meV due to magnetic moment fluctuations of the Mn ions. After rapid thermal annealing, the emission lines of individual magnetic quantum dots narrow significantly to 0.25 meV showing that effect of magnetic fluctuations is strongly reduced most probably due to an increase in the average quantum dot size. These results suggest a way to tune the spin properties of magnetic quantum dots.
Optical and electrical control of the nuclear spin system allows enhancing the sensitivity of NMR applications and spin-based information storage and processing. Dynamic nuclear polarization in semiconductors is commonly achieved in the presence of a stabilizing external magnetic field. Here we report efficient optical pumping of nuclear spins at zero magnetic field in strain free GaAs quantum dots. The strong interaction of a single, optically injected electron spin with the nuclear spins acts as a stabilizing, effective magnetic field (Knight field) on the nuclei. We optically tune the Knight field amplitude and direction. In combination with a small transverse magnetic field, we are able to control the longitudinal and transverse component of the nuclear spin polarization in the absence of lattice strain i.e. nuclear quadrupole effects, as reproduced by our model calculations.
Here we embark on a thorough investigation of the magneto-optical absorption in semiconducting {em spherical} quantum dots characterized by a confining harmonic potential and an applied magnetic field in the symmetric gauge. This is done within the framework of Bohm-Pines random-phase approximation that enables us to derive and discuss the full Dyson equation that takes proper account of the Coulomb interactions. As an application of our theoretical strategy, we compute various single-particle and many-particle phenomena such as the Fock-Darwin spectrum; Fermi energy; magneto-optical transitions; probability distribution; and the magneto-optical absorption in the quantum dots. It is observed that the role of an applied magnetic field on the absorption spectrum is comparable to that of a confining potential. Increasing (decreasing) the strength of the magnetic field or the confining potential is found to be analogous to shrinking (expanding) the size of the quantum dots: resulting into a blue (red) shift in the absorption spectrum. The Fermi energy diminishes with both increasing magnetic-field and dot-size; and exhibits saw-tooth-like oscillations at large values of field or dot-size. Unlike laterally confined quantum dots, both (upper and lower) magneto-optical transitions survive even in the extreme instances. However, the intra-Landau level transitions are seen to be forbidden. The spherical quantum dots have an edge over the strictly two-dimensional quantum dots in that the additional (magnetic) quantum number makes the physics richer (but complex). A deeper grasp of the Coulomb blockade, quantum coherence, and entanglement can lead to a better insight into promising applications involving lasers, detectors, storage devices, and quantum computing.
Quantum dot heterostructures with excellent low-noise properties became possible with high purity materials recently. We present a study on molecular beam epitaxy grown quantum wells and quantum dots with a contaminated aluminum evaporation cell, which introduced a high amount of impurities, perceivable in anomalies in optical and electrical measurements. We describe a way of addressing this problem and find that reconditioning the aluminum cell by overheating can lead to a full recovery of the anomalies in photoluminescence and capacitance-voltage measurements, leading to excellent low noise heterostructures. Furthermore, we propose a method to sense photo-induced trap charges using capacitance-voltage spectroscopy on self-assembled quantum dots. Excitation energy-dependent ionization of defect centers leads to shifts in capacitance-voltage spectra which can be used to determine the charge density of photo-induced trap charges via 1D band structure simulations. This method can be performed on frequently used quantum dot diode structures.