Ultrafast coherent spectroscopy of single semiconductor quantum dots

Christoph Lienau; Thomas Unold; Kerstin Mueller; Thomas Elsaesser

doi:10.1117/12.604640

3 June 2005 Ultrafast coherent spectroscopy of single semiconductor quantum dots (Invited Paper)

Christoph Lienau, Thomas Unold, Kerstin Mueller, Thomas Elsaesser

Proceedings Volume 5825, Opto-Ireland 2005: Optoelectronics, Photonic Devices, and Optical Networks; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.604640
Event: OPTO-Ireland, 2005, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

Excitonic and spin excitations of single semiconductor quantum dots currently attract attention as possible candidates for solid state based implementations of quantum logic devices. Due to their rather short decoherence times in the picosecond to nanosecond range, such implementations rely on using ultrafast optical pulses to probe and control coherent polarizations. In this article, we review our recent work on combining ultrafast spectroscopy and near-field microscopy to probe the nonlinear optical response of a single quantum dot and of a pair of dipolecoupled quantum dots on a femtosecond time scale. We demonstrate coherent control of both amplitude and phase of the coherent quantum dot polarization by studying Rabi oscillations and the optical Stark effect in an individual dot. By probing Rabi oscillations in a pair of dots, we identify couplings between permanent excitonic dipole moments. Our results show that although semiconductor quantum dots resemble in many respects atomic systems, Coulomb many-body interactions can contribute significantly to their optical nonlinearities on ultrashort time scales. This paves the way towards the realization of potentially scalable nonlocal quantum gates in chains of dipole-coupled dots, but also means that decoherence phenomena induced by many-body interactions need to be carefully controlled.

Citation Download Citation

Christoph Lienau, Thomas Unold, Kerstin Mueller, and Thomas Elsaesser "Ultrafast coherent spectroscopy of single semiconductor quantum dots (Invited Paper)", Proc. SPIE 5825, Opto-Ireland 2005: Optoelectronics, Photonic Devices, and Optical Networks, (3 June 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.604640

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available