Exciton dynamics in semiconductor quantum wells and single quantum dots studied with a THz free-electron laser

Excitons in III-V semiconductors are Coulomb-bound electron-hole pairs which are analogous to two-dimensional hydrogen atoms with terahertz (THz) binding energies. In semiconductor quantum wells (QW), confinement into the plane of the QW gives rise to essentially two-dimensional excitons, thus giving rise to a different symmetry and higher binding energy. In quantum dots (QD), three-dimensional confinement leads to discrete electronic and excitonic states, such that the system becomes similar to a trapped atom.
Using intense, spectrally narrow terahertz (THz) pulses from the free-electron laser (FEL) facility FELBE in Dresden, Germany, we have investigated the population dynamics between exciton states in III-V QWs and single QDs. To this end, carriers are optically injected by picosecond near-infrared optical pulses, which leads to a population of the lowest excitonic level. Using narrowband THz pulses provided by the free-electron laser at HZDR, excitons are resonantly excited into higher levels. Time-dependent photoluminescence (TDPL) measurements based on a streak camera system and on time-correlated photon counting, respectively, then allow us to study the transient population of dipole-allowed higher excitonic levels and to access the relaxation dynamics of these quasi-particles.
In QWs, the most prominent transition is from the 1s ground state into the 2p excited state (using hydrogen notation). While the 2p state is "optically dark", rapid scattering from the 2p into the 2s state occurs. TDPL originating from the 1s and 2s exciton states thus provides a unique signature which allows us to explore the relaxation dynamics involving 1s, 2s, and 2p excitons. Now turning to QDs, single QDs rather than QD ensembles should be investigated in order to prevent strong inhomogeneous broadening. We have therefore developed a micro-TDPL setup with a probe volume significantly below 1 µm^3 and high quantum efficiency to become sensitive to one single QD. In particular, we investigate the dynamics of the s-to-p inter-sublevel transition, which occurs in the range 13-20 meV for the QDs under study. Resonant excitation with a THz pulse, which is applied at about 0.7 ns time delay after interband excitation, causes an instantaneous reduction of the ground state TDPL. The signal recovers within about 100 ps towards a value which depends on the near-infrared excitation energy. In particular, qualitatively different behavior has been observed and analyzed using a phenomenological rate equation for interband excitation of the GaAs matrix, the InGaAs wetting layer, and quasi-resonant excitation of the QD.
Acknowledgements: We thank L. Schneebeli, C.N. Böttge, M. Kira, and S.W. Koch (Marburg, Germany) for fruitful discussions and collaboration.