Allowed and forbidden transitions in artificial hydrogen and helium atoms

The strength of radiative transitions in atoms is governed by selection rules that depend on the occupation of atomic orbitals with electrons. Experiments have shown similar electron occupation of the quantized energy levels in semiconductor quantum dots--often described as artificial atoms. But unlike real atoms, the confinement potential of quantum dots is anisotropic, and the electrons can easily couple with phonons of the material. Here we report electrical pump-and-probe experiments that probe the allowed and 'forbidden' transitions between energy levels under phonon emission in quantum dots with one or two electrons (artificial hydrogen and helium atoms). The forbidden transitions are in fact allowed by higher-order processes where electrons flip their spin. We find that the relaxation time is about 200 micro s for forbidden transitions, 4 to 5 orders of magnitude longer than for allowed transitions. This indicates that the spin degree of freedom is well separated from the orbital degree of freedom, and that the total spin in the quantum dots is an excellent quantum number. This is an encouraging result for potential applications of quantum dots as basic entities for spin-based quantum information storage.     

Hybridization of electronic states in quantum dots through photon emission

The self-assembly of semiconductor quantum dots has opened up new opportunities in photonics. Quantum dots are usually described as 'artificial atoms', because electron and hole confinement gives rise to discrete energy levels. This picture can be justified from the shell structure observed as a quantum dot is filled either with excitons (bound electron-hole pairs) or with electrons. The discrete energy levels have been most spectacularly exploited in single photon sources that use a single quantum dot as emitter. At low temperatures, the artificial atom picture is strengthened by the long coherence times of excitons in quantum dots, motivating the application of quantum dots in quantum optics and quantum information processing. In this context, excitons in quantum dots have already been manipulated coherently. We show here that quantum dots can also possess electronic states that go far beyond the artificial atom model. These states are a coherent hybridization of localized quantum dot states and extended continuum states: they have no analogue in atomic physics. The states are generated by the emission of a photon from a quantum dot. We show how a new version of the Anderson model that describes interactions between localized and extended states can account for the observed hybridization.     

Hidden symmetries in the energy levels of excitonic 'artificial atoms'

Quantum dots or 'artificial atoms' are of fundamental and technological interest--for example, quantum dots may form the basis of new generations of lasers. The emission in quantum-dot lasers originates from the recombination of excitonic complexes, so it is important to understand the dot's internal electronic structure (and of fundamental interest to compare this to real atomic structure). Here we investigate artificial electronic structure by injecting optically a controlled number of electrons and holes into an isolated single quantum dot. The charge carriers form complexes that are artificial analogues of hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron and carbon excitonic atoms. We observe that electrons and holes occupy the confined electronic shells in characteristic numbers according to the Pauli exclusion principle. In each degenerate shell, collective condensation of the electrons and holes into coherent many-exciton ground states takes place; this phenomenon results from hidden symmetries (the analogue of Hund's rules for real atoms) in the energy function that describes the multi-particle system. Breaking of the hidden symmetries leads to unusual quantum interferences in emission involving excited states.     

量子点半导体光放大器的自发辐射特性研究

从导带、价带和浸润层的能级跃迁出发,采用分段模型对量子点半导体光放大器的增益和自发辐射进行了数值研究．物理模型包括自发辐射行波方程和各能级栽流子与光子数速率方程．经过大量数值计算,得到基态电子占用概率随注入光脉冲的变化,以及增益动态过程（饱和与恢复）和输出光脉冲的时域波形畸变．进一步研究了量子点光放大器自发辐射谱和增益平坦性,结果表明自发辐射功率随输入信号功率增大而减小,引入合适的钳制光,可在20nm带宽内获得小于0．3dB的增益平坦度,或者40nm带宽内小于1．0dB．     

硅量子点表面掺氮的电子结构计算

本文在量子点表面掺入氮原子,用第一性原理方法模拟计算硅量子点（111）面上的电子结构.本文主要解决两个问题：（1）比较研究六种不同大小的量子点结构掺杂和未掺杂氮原子情况下的带隙宽度和电子态密度变化;（2）分别用广义梯度近似（GGA）和局域密度近似（LDA）两种不同的算法计算六种量子点结构的带隙宽度和态密度,并比较GGA和LDA算法的特点.计算结果发现：带隙随着量子点的尺度变小而展宽,这符合量子受限规律;在量子点表面掺杂氮原子会减小带隙宽度;重要的是发现LDA算法对局域态更加敏感.     

Energy spectra of quantum rings.

Quantum mechanical experiments in ring geometries have long fascinated physicists. Open rings connected to leads, for example, allow the observation of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, one of the best examples of quantum mechanical phase coherence. The phase coherence of electrons travelling through a quantum dot embedded in one arm of an open ring has also been demonstrated. The energy spectra of closed rings have only recently been studied by optical spectroscopy. The prediction that they allow persistent current has been explored in various experiments. Here we report magnetotransport experiments on closed rings in the Coulomb blockade regime. Our experiments show that a microscopic understanding of energy levels, so far limited to few-electron quantum dots, can be extended to a many-electron system. A semiclassical interpretation of our results indicates that electron motion in the rings is governed by regular rather than chaotic motion, an unexplored regime in many-electron quantum dots. This opens a way to experiments where even more complex structures can be investigated at a quantum mechanical level.     

Quantum phase transition in a single-molecule quantum dot

Quantum criticality is the intriguing possibility offered by the laws of quantum mechanics when the wave function of a many-particle physical system is forced to evolve continuously between two distinct, competing ground states. This phenomenon, often related to a zero-temperature magnetic phase transition, is believed to govern many of the fascinating properties of strongly correlated systems such as heavy-fermion compounds or high-temperature superconductors. In contrast to bulk materials with very complex electronic structures, artificial nanoscale devices could offer a new and simpler means of understanding quantum phase transitions. Here we demonstrate this possibility in a single-molecule quantum dot, where a gate voltage induces a crossing of two different types of electron spin state (singlet and triplet) at zero magnetic field. The quantum dot is operated in the Kondo regime, where the electron spin on the quantum dot is partially screened by metallic electrodes. This strong electronic coupling between the quantum dot and the metallic contacts provides the strong electron correlations necessary to observe quantum critical behaviour. The quantum magnetic phase transition between two different Kondo regimes is achieved by tuning gate voltages and is fundamentally different from previously observed Kondo transitions in semiconductor and nanotube quantum dots. Our work may offer new directions in terms of control and tunability for molecular spintronics.     

Al含量对闪锌矿GaN/AlxGa1-xN量子点光学性质的影响

利用有效质量近似和变分原理,考虑量子点的3维约束效应,研究了圆柱形闪锌矿GaN/AlxGa1-xN量子点的光学特性随势垒层Al含量的变化关系问题。结果表明,势垒层Al含量对量子点的发光波长、振子强度和激子结合能有重要的影响,激子效应对量子点发光波长的影响很大。     

Cd与Se比例对CdSe量子点发光性能的影响

硒化镉(CdSe)量子点具有荧光量子产率高、稳定性好以及光谱易于调节等优点,在发光二极管、太阳能电池及荧光标记等领域有着广阔的应用前景,而研究不同工艺条件对其性能的影响具有重要意义.以金属氯化物为Cd和Se源,以巯基丙酸(3-MPA)为包覆剂利用水相回流反应法在100 ℃下反应120 min制备了系列CdSe量子点,并讨论了不同Cd与Se比例时样品的形貌、带隙及光学性能的变化.CdSe量子点的尺度在2.19~2.57 nm,最强激发峰位于431 nm,发射峰位于561 nm,吸收光谱带边从460 nm蓝移到450 nm,表明样品在合成过程中,Cd与Se比例对样品的性能有一定的影响.     

Two types of luminescence blinking revealed by spectroelectrochemistry of single quantum dots

Photoluminescence blinking--random switching between states of high (ON) and low (OFF) emissivities--is a universal property of molecular emitters found in dyes, polymers, biological molecules and artificial nanostructures such as nanocrystal quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and nanowires. For the past 15 years, colloidal nanocrystals have been used as a model system to study this phenomenon. The occurrence of OFF periods in nanocrystal emission has been commonly attributed to the presence of an additional charge, which leads to photoluminescence quenching by non-radiative recombination (the Auger mechanism). However, this 'charging' model was recently challenged in several reports. Here we report time-resolved photoluminescence studies of individual nanocrystal quantum dots performed while electrochemically controlling the degree of their charging, with the goal of clarifying the role of charging in blinking. We find that two distinct types of blinking are possible: conventional (A-type) blinking due to charging and discharging of the nanocrystal core, in which lower photoluminescence intensities correlate with shorter photoluminescence lifetimes; and a second sort (B-type), in which large changes in the emission intensity are not accompanied by significant changes in emission dynamics. We attribute B-type blinking to charge fluctuations in the electron-accepting surface sites. When unoccupied, these sites intercept 'hot' electrons before they relax into emitting core states. Both blinking mechanisms can be electrochemically controlled and completely suppressed by application of an appropriate potential.     

Spin-orbit qubit in a semiconductor nanowire

Motion of electrons can influence their spins through a fundamental effect called spin-orbit interaction. This interaction provides a way to control spins electrically and thus lies at the foundation of spintronics. Even at the level of single electrons, the spin-orbit interaction has proven promising for coherent spin rotations. Here we implement a spin-orbit quantum bit (qubit) in an indium arsenide nanowire, where the spin-orbit interaction is so strong that spin and motion can no longer be separated. In this regime, we realize fast qubit rotations and universal single-qubit control using only electric fields; the qubits are hosted in single-electron quantum dots that are individually addressable. We enhance coherence by dynamically decoupling the qubits from the environment. Nanowires offer various advantages for quantum computing: they can serve as one-dimensional templates for scalable qubit registers, and it is possible to vary the material even during wire growth. Such flexibility can be used to design wires with suppressed decoherence and to push semiconductor qubit fidelities towards error correction levels. Furthermore, electrical dots can be integrated with optical dots in p-n junction nanowires. The coherence times achieved here are sufficient for the conversion of an electronic qubit into a photon, which can serve as a flying qubit for long-distance quantum communication.     

基于量子点白光LED的可见光通信系统

针对目前可见光通信( VLC: Visible Light Communication) 系统中存在的光源照明效果差和效率低的问题,提出了以量子点白光发光二极管( QDs-WLED: Quantum Dots White Light Emitting Diode) 作为VLC 系统的光源,并以此设计了一套便携式点对点VLC 收/发终端。采用一步合成法合成了峰值在570 nm 高稳定性、高量子效率的核壳硒化镉( CdSe) 量子点材料,其量子产率达到81%。将该量子点材料取代传统的荧光粉材料,与环氧树脂混合后涂到蓝光LED( Light Emiting Diode) 芯片上制成白光LED 器件,并测试了其发光光谱、色坐标图和流明效率。然后阐述了VLC 系统的结构和原理,并编写了通信软件和制定了相关协议,实现了系统的软硬件集成,利用所研制的VLC 系统,开展了通信实验。实验结果表明,QDs-WLED 除了拥有出色的照明效果和节能特性外,也能实现数据传输的功能。在选择最佳直流偏置电压2． 70 V 的情况下,系统的最大通信距离为1． 3 m,可达到的最大通信速度为267 kbit /s,误码率( BEＲ: Bit Error Ｒatio) 小于10 ^{－ 3}。     

Coherent singlet-triplet oscillations in a silicon-based double quantum dot

Silicon is more than the dominant material in the conventional microelectronics industry: it also has potential as a host material for emerging quantum information technologies. Standard fabrication techniques already allow the isolation of single electron spins in silicon transistor-like devices. Although this is also possible in other materials, silicon-based systems have the advantage of interacting more weakly with nuclear spins. Reducing such interactions is important for the control of spin quantum bits because nuclear fluctuations limit quantum phase coherence, as seen in recent experiments in GaAs-based quantum dots. Advances in reducing nuclear decoherence effects by means of complex control still result in coherence times much shorter than those seen in experiments on large ensembles of impurity-bound electrons in bulk silicon crystals. Here we report coherent control of electron spins in two coupled quantum dots in an undoped Si/SiGe heterostructure and show that this system has a nuclei-induced dephasing time of 360 nanoseconds, which is an increase by nearly two orders of magnitude over similar measurements in GaAs-based quantum dots. The degree of phase coherence observed, combined with fast, gated electrical initialization, read-out and control, should motivate future development of silicon-based quantum information processors.     

Kondo effect in an integer-spin quantum dot

The Kondo effect--a many-body phenomenon in condensed-matter physics involving the interaction between a localized spin and free electrons--was discovered in metals containing small amounts of magnetic impurities, although it is now recognized to be of fundamental importance in a wide class of correlated electron systems. In fabricated structures, the control of single, localized spins is of technological relevance for nanoscale electronics. Experiments have already demonstrated artificial realizations of isolated magnetic impurities at metallic surfaces, nanoscale magnets, controlled transitions between two-electron singlet and triplet states, and a tunable Kondo effect in semiconductor quantum dots. Here we report an unexpected Kondo effect in a few-electron quantum dot containing singlet and triplet spin states, whose energy difference can be tuned with a magnetic field. We observe the effect for an even number of electrons, when the singlet and triplet states are degenerate. The characteristic energy scale is much larger than in the ordinary spin-1/2 case.     

内建电场对纤锌矿InxGa1-xN/GaN单量子点光学特性的影响

利用有效质量近似和变分原理,考虑量子点的三维约束效应,对柱形量子点光学特性在有无内建电场时随量子点结构参数的变化进行研究.结果表明:内建电场对量子点的发光波长和激子基态振子强度等光学性质有重要的影响,其中量子点高度的变化对量子点光学特性的影响要比量子点半径的变化对量子点光学特性的影响更明显.     

白光LED用量子点玻璃的制备方法及应用研究进展

白光LED用量子点玻璃不但具有量子点高荧光效率、发光波长可调和较窄的发射波长等新颖的光学特性,而且量子点的热稳定性差和水氧抵抗性差的问题也很好的得到了解决,可以有效的避免封装材料黄化老化、发光不均匀和出现光斑等传统封装白光LED出现的问题。综述了白光LED用量子点玻璃的制备方法及其在LED的应用,并对白光LED用量子点玻璃的荧光效率和无铅、无镉量子点玻璃的研制提出了进一步展望。     

Electrons surfing on a sound wave as a platform for quantum optics with flying electrons

Electrons in a metal are indistinguishable particles that interact strongly with other electrons and their environment. Isolating and detecting a single flying electron after propagation, in a similar manner to quantum optics experiments with single photons, is therefore a challenging task. So far only a few experiments have been performed in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas in which the electron propagates almost ballistically. In these previous works, flying electrons were detected by means of the current generated by an ensemble of electrons, and electron correlations were encrypted in the current noise. Here we demonstrate the experimental realization of high-efficiency single-electron source and detector for a single electron propagating isolated from the other electrons through a one-dimensional channel. The moving potential is excited by a surface acoustic wave, which carries the single electron along the one-dimensional channel at a speed of 3 μm ns(-1). When this quantum channel is placed between two quantum dots several micrometres apart, a single electron can be transported from one quantum dot to the other with quantum efficiencies of emission and detection of 96% and 92%, respectively. Furthermore, the transfer of the electron can be triggered on a timescale shorter than the coherence time T(2)* of GaAs spin qubits. Our work opens new avenues with which to study the teleportation of a single electron spin and the distant interaction between spatially separated qubits in a condensed-matter system.     

量子点表面分子印迹的研究与进展

量子点以其优异的光学特性和光化学稳定性,在分析化学、生物科学以及医学等领域逐渐发挥出越来越大的作用,分子印迹是一种制备具有分子识别功能的聚合物的技术,而在量子点表面进行分子印迹合成的聚合物可以兼具出色的光学特性和高度的形态选择性两大优点。此文简单概述了量子点和表面分子印迹的原理和特性,以及在量子点表面做分子印迹的研究进展及前景展望。     

Crossover from 'mesoscopic' to 'universal' phase for electron transmission in quantum dots

The measurement of phase in coherent electron systems--that is, 'mesoscopic' systems such as quantum dots--can yield information about fundamental transport properties that is not readily apparent from conductance measurements. Phase measurements on relatively large quantum dots recently revealed that the phase evolution for electrons traversing the dots exhibits a 'universal' behaviour, independent of dot size, shape, and electron occupancy. Specifically, for quantum dots in the Coulomb blockade regime, the transmission phase increases monotonically by pi throughout each conductance peak; in the conductance valleys, the phase returns sharply to its starting value. The expected mesoscopic features in the phase evolution--related to the dot's shape, spin degeneracy or to exchange effects--have not been observed, and there is at present no satisfactory explanation for the observed universality in phase behaviour. Here we report the results of phase measurements on a series of small quantum dots, having occupancies of between only 1-20 electrons, where the phase behaviour for electron transmission should in principle be easier to interpret. In contrast to the universal behaviour observed thus far only in the larger dots, we see clear mesoscopic features in the phase measurements when the dot occupancy is less than approximately 10 electrons. As the occupancy increases, the manner of phase evolution changes and universal behaviour is recovered for some 14 electrons or more. The identification of a transition from the expected mesoscopic behaviour to universal phase evolution should help to direct and constrain theoretical models for the latter.     

氧气中加工生成硅量子点的受激发光

用纳秒脉冲激光辐照加工生成硅量子点结构,经过适当退火后,在605 nm和693 nm处检测到受激发光峰并能观察到有明显的光增益现象和阈值行为。通过在硅量子点表面建立Si-O-Si桥键和Si=O双键键,用第一性原理对氧气中用激光加工的硅基量子点的电子态密度进行模拟计算,结果表明两种键在量子点中都形成局域态,但局域态位置不同。结合理论和实验,得出产生受激发光峰增强效应和阈值行为的主要原因,并提出硅量子点纳米激光这一新思想,量子受限效应决定激光的抽运能级,局域态在导带和价带之间为粒子数反转提供必要条件。