Terahertz optical sideband emission in self-assembled quantum dots

A multilayer quantum dot sample has been excited with a strong terahertz (THz) electric field and probed with a near-infrared (NIR) laser. First- and second-order THz optical sidebands are generated on the NIR probe beam by driving quantum dot intersublevel resonances with the THz fields. A conversion efficiency of 3×10−6 was obtained for the conversion of NIR power into sideband emission at 4 K, decreasing by a factor of 20 up to room temperature. The sideband emission wavelength can be tuned over ∼ 20 nm by selection of appropriate NIR and THz frequencies, due to the inhomogeneous broadening of the dot ensemble.