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K. Müller

Publications and source records attributed to K. Müller.

45 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

A carrier relaxation bottleneck probed in single InGaAs quantum dots using integrated superconducting single photon detectors

Using integrated superconducting single photon detectors we probe ultra-slow exciton capture and relaxation dynamics in single self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots embedded in a GaAs ridge waveguide. Time-resolved luminescence measurements performed with on- and off-chip detection reveal a continuous decrease in the carrier relaxation time from 1.22 $\pm$ 0.07 ns to 0.10 $\pm$ 0.07 ns upon increasing the number of non-resonantly injected carriers. By comparing off-chip time-resolved spectroscopy with spectrally integrated on-chip measurements we identify the observed dynamics in the rise time ($τ_r$) as arising from a relaxation bottleneck at low excitation levels. From the comparison with the temporal dynamics of the single exciton transition with the on-chip emission signal, we conclude that the relaxation bottleneck is circumvented by the presence of charge carriers occupying states in the bulk material and the two-dimensional wetting layer continuum. A characteristic -2/3 power law dependence of the rise time is observed suggesting Auger-type scattering between carriers trapped in the quantum dot and the two-dimensional wetting layer continuum which circumvents the phonon relaxation bottleneck.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Emitters of $N$-photon bundles

We propose a scheme based on the coherent excitation of a two-level system in a cavity to generate an ultrabright CW and focused source of quantum light that comes in groups (bundles) of $N$ photons, for an integer $N$ tunable with the frequency of the exciting laser. We define a new quantity, the \emph{purity} of $N$-photon emission, to describe the percentage of photons emitted in bundles, thus bypassing the limitations of Glauber correlation functions. We focus on the case $1\le N\le3$ and show that close to 100% of two-photon emission and 90% of three-photon emission is within reach of state of the art cavity QED samples. The statistics of the bundles emission shows that various regimes---from $N$-photon lasing to $N$-photon guns---can be realized. This is evidenced through generalized correlation functions that extend the standard definitions to the multi-photon level.

quant-ph↗

All optical quantum control of a spin-quantum state and ultrafast transduction into an electric current

The ability to control and exploit quantum coherence and entanglement drives research across many fields ranging from ultra-cold quantum gases to spin systems in condensed matter. Transcending different physical systems, optical approaches have proven themselves to be particularly powerful, since they profit from the established toolbox of quantum optical techniques, are state-selective, contact-less and can be extremely fast. Here, we demonstrate how a precisely timed sequence of monochromatic ultrafast (~2-5 ps) optical pulses, with a well defined polarisation can be used to prepare arbitrary superpositions of exciton spin states in a semiconductor quantum dot, achieve ultrafast control of the spin-wavefunction without an applied magnetic field and make high fidelity read-out the quantum state in an arbitrary basis simply by detecting a strong (~2-10$ pA) electric current flowing in an external circuit. The results obtained show that the combined quantum state preparation, control and read-out can be performed with a near-unity (>97%) fidelity. Our methods are fully applicable to other quantum systems and have strong potential for scaling to more complex systems such as molecules and spin-chains.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

High fidelity optical preparation and coherent Larmor precession of a single hole in an InGaAs quantum dot molecule

We employ ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy with photocurrent readout to directly probe the dynamics of a single hole spin in a single, electrically tunable self-assembled quantum dot molecule formed by vertically stacking InGaAs quantum dots. Excitons with defined spin configurations are initialized in one of the two dots using circularly polarized picosecond pulses. The time-dependent spin configuration is probed by the spin selective optical absorption of the resulting few Fermion complex. Taking advantage of sub-5 ps electron tunneling to an orbitally excited state of the other dot, we initialize a single hole spin with a purity of >96%, i.e., much higher than demonstrated in previous single dot experiments. Measurements in a lateral magnetic field monitor the coherent Larmor precession of the single hole spin with no observable loss of spin coherence within the ~300 ps hole lifetime. Thereby, the purity of the hole spin initialization remains unchanged for all investigated magnetic fields.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Electrical control of inter-dot electron tunneling in a quantum dot molecule

We employ ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy to directly monitor electron tunneling between discrete orbital states in a pair of spatially separated quantum dots. Immediately after excitation, several peaks are observed in the pump-probe spectrum due to Coulomb interactions between the photo-generated charge carriers. By tuning the relative energy of the orbital states in the two dots and monitoring the temporal evolution of the pump-probe spectra the electron and hole tunneling times are separately measured and resonant tunneling between the two dots is shown to be mediated both by elastic and inelastic processes. Ultrafast (< 5 ps) inter-dot tunneling is shown to occur over a surprisingly wide bandwidth, up to ~8 meV, reflecting the spectrum of exciton-acoustic phonon coupling in the system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Electrical control of the exciton-biexciton splitting in a single self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots

We report on single InGaAs quantum dots embedded in a lateral electric field device. By applying a voltage we tune the neutral exciton transition into resonance with the biexciton using the quantum confined Stark effect. The results are compared to theoretical calculations of the relative energies of exciton and biexciton. Cascaded decay from the manifold of single exciton-biexciton states has been predicted to be a new concept to generate entangled photon pairs on demand without the need to suppress the fine structures splitting of the neutral exciton.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Excited State Quantum Couplings and Optical Switching of an Artificial Molecule

We optically probe the spectrum of ground and excited state transitions of an individual, electrically tunable self-assembled quantum dot molecule. Photocurrent absorption measurements show that the spatially direct neutral exciton transitions in the upper and lower dots are energetically separated by only ~2 meV. Excited state transitions ~8-16 meV to higher energy exhibit pronounced anticrossings as the electric field is tuned due to the formation of hybridized electron states. We show that the observed excited state transitions occur between these hybridized electronic states and different hole states in the upper dot. By simultaneously pumping two different excited states with two laser fields we demonstrate a strong (88% on-off contrast) laser induced switching of the optical response. The results represent an electrically tunable, discrete coupled quantum system with a conditional optical response.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Non-resonant feeding of photonic crystal nanocavity modes by quantum dots

We experimentally probe the non-resonant feeding of photons into the optical mode of a two dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity from the discrete emission from a quantum dot. For a strongly coupled system of a single exciton and the cavity mode, we track the detuning-dependent photoluminescence intensity of the polariton peaks at different lattice temperatures. At low temperatures we observe a clear asymmetry in the emission intensity depending on whether the exciton is at higher or lower energy than the cavity mode. At high temperatures this asymmetry vanishes when the probabilities to emit or absorb a phonon become similar. For a different dot-cavity system where the cavity mode is detuned by ΔE>5 meV to lower energy than the single exciton transitions emission from the mode remains correlated with the quantum dot as demonstrated unambiguously by cross-correlation photon counting experiments. By monitoring the temporal evolution of the photoluminescence spectrum, we show that feeding of photons into the mode occurs from multi-exciton transitions. We observe a clear anti-correlation of the mode and single exciton emission; the mode emission quenches as the population in the system reduces towards the single exciton level whilst the intensity of the mode emission tracks the multi-exciton transitions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗