Explanation of Unusual Photoluminescence Behavior from InAs Quantum Dots with InAlAs Capping

The effect of different kinds of cap layers on optical property of InAs quantum dots (QDs) on GaAs (100) substrate was studied. Temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL) indicates that the PL integrated intensity from the ground state of InAs QDs capped with an intermediate InAIAs layer drops very little as compared to QDs capped with a thin InGaAs or GaAs cap layer from 15 K up to room temperature. PL integrated intensity ratio of the first excited to ground states for InAs QDs capped with an intermediate InAIAs layer is unexpectedly decreased with increasing temperature, which are attributed to phonon bottleneck effect. A virtual barrier is proposed to describe this physics process and shows good agreement with experimental results when fitting the curve with the value of the virtual barrier 30 meV.     

Quantum Dot in the Pseudo-gap Sate with Spin–Orbit Interaction

We study the linear conductance in quantum dot with spin–orbit interaction coupled to Fermi liquid leads with a power-low density of states. The conductance at zero temperature is calculated as a function of the power exponent from the density of state ρ(ω)∼|ω−E _F | ^r at the Fermi energy E _F and the different energy rates. The phase shift of the conduction electrons is also r-dependent. The model can be used in the study of the quantum phase transition.     

Spin Filter Effect in a Parallel Double Quantum Dot

We present a theoretical study of the spectral and the spin-dependent transport properties of a few electron semiconductor parallel double quantum dot (DQD) in the presence of local induced Zeeman splittings at the quantum dots. Working in an extended Hubbard model and treating the coupled QD as a single coherent system, the linear response spin-dependent conductance is calculated at low temperatures. We analyze the conditions such that the device would operate as a bipolar spin filter by only varying the incident electron Fermi energy from non-magnetic leads.     

Hyperfine Interactions and Electron Spin-Dynamics in a Quantum Dot

We study the dynamics of a single electron spin in an isolated quantum dot induced by hyperfine interaction with nuclei. The decoherence is caused by the spatial variation of the electron wave function within the dot, leading to a nonuniform hyperfine coupling A. We evaluate the spin correlation function and find that the decay is not exponential but rather power (inverse logarithm) law-like. For polarized nuclei we find an exact solution and show that the precession amplitude and the decay behavior can be tuned by the magnetic field. The decay time is given by N/A, where N is the number of nuclei inside the dot, and the amplitude of precession decays to a finite value. We show that there is a striking difference between the decoherence time for a single dot and the dephasing time for an ensemble of dots.     

Charging Effects on Nuclear Spin Relaxation in Quantum Dots

We study the mechanism of nuclear spin relaxation in quantum dots due to the electron exchange with 2D gas. We show that the nuclear spin relaxation rate T ₁ ^–1 is dramatically affected by the Coulomb blockade (CB) and can be controlled by gate voltage. In the case of strong spin–orbit (SO) coupling the relaxation rate is maximal in the CB valleys whereas for the weak SO coupling the maximum of 1/T ₁ is near the CB peaks. The physical mechanism of nuclear spin relaxation rate at strong SO coupling is identified as Debye–Mandelstam–Leontovich–Pollak–Geballe relaxational mechanism.     

Laser-Controlled Magnetization in a Single Magnetic Semiconductor Quantum Dot

The photoluminescene signal of individual semimagnetic CdSe–Zn_0.75Mn_0.25Se quantum dots is used to study the magnetization of the Mn²⁺ spin system in the exchange field of a single exciton. We demonstrate that by increasing the laser excitation power a significant blue shift of the photoluminescence signal occurs. This is attributed to a laser-induced demagnetization, i.e. the laser-generated carriers heat the Mn²⁺ spin system via spin–flip exchange scattering.     

Zero-Magnetic-Field Spin Splitting of Conduction Subbands in InGaAs/InAlAs and GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Wells

Zero-magnetic-field spin splitting in InGaAs/GaAs and GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells was investigated theoretically. The sp³s* empirical tight-binding method has been employed. It has been found that the splitting is much larger in InGaAs wells than that in GaAs wells. The origin of the splitting due to the structure inversion asymmetry was briefly discussed.     

The Role of Ligand Density and Size in Mediating Quantum Dot Nuclear Transport

Studying the effects of the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials on cellular uptake, toxicity, and exocytosis can provide the foundation for designing safer and more effective nanoparticles for clinical applications. However, an understanding of the effects of these properties on subcellular transport, accumulation, and distribution remains limited. The present study investigates the effects of surface density and particle size of semiconductor quantum dots on cellular uptake as well as nuclear transport kinetics, retention, and accumulation. The current work illustrates that cellular uptake and nuclear accumulation of nanoparticles depend on surface density of the nuclear localization signal (NLS) peptides with nuclear transport reaching a plateau at 20% surface NLS density in as little as 30 min. These intracellular nanoparticles have no effects on cell viability up to 72 h post treatment. These findings will set a foundation for engineering more sophisticated nanoparticle systems for imaging and manipulating genetic targets in the nucleus.     

DNA‐Mediated Self‐Assembly of Plasmonic Antennas with a Single Quantum Dot in the Hot Spot

DNA self‐assembly is a powerful tool to arrange optically active components with high accuracy in a large parallel manner. A facile approach to assemble plasmonic antennas consisting of two metallic nanoparticles (40 nm) with a single colloidal quantum dot positioned at the hot spot is presented here. The design approach is based on DNA complementarity, stoichiometry, and steric hindrance principles. Since no intermediate molecules other than short DNA strands are required, the structures possess a very small gap (≈ 5 nm) which is desired to achieve high Purcell factors and plasmonic enhancement. As a proof‐of‐concept, the fluorescence emission from antennas assembled with both conventional and ultrasmooth spherical gold particles is measured. An increase in fluorescence is obtained, up to ≈30‐fold, compared to quantum dots without antenna.     

Analysis of the Vertical and Lateral Interactions in a Multisheet Array of InAs/GaAs Quantum Dots

The vertical and lateral interactions in a multisheet array of InAs/GaAs quantum dots are analyzed by finite element method(FEM).It is shown that due to the effects of vertical interaction,nucleation prefers to happen above buried quantum dots(QDs).Meanwhile,the effects of lateral interaction adjust the spacing of lateral neighboring QDs.The vertical coupling becomes strong with deceasing GaAs spacer height and increasing number of buried layers,while the lateral coupling becomes strong with increasing InAs...     

Hyperfine-Mediated Transitions Between a Zeeman Split Doublet in GaAs Quantum Dots: The Role of the Internal Field

We consider the hyperfine-mediated transition rate between Zeeman split states of the lowest orbital level in a GaAs quantum dot. We separate the hyperfine Hamiltonian into a part which is diagonal in the orbital states and another one which mixes different orbitals. The diagonal part gives rise to an effective (internal) magnetic field which, in addition to an external magnetic field, determines the Zeeman splitting. Spin-flip transitions in the dots are induced by the orbital mixing part accompanied by an emission of a phonon. We evaluate the rate for different regimes of applied magnetic field and temperature. The rates we find are bigger than the spin–orbit-related rates, provided the external magnetic field is sufficiently low.     

Temperature‐Dependent Exciton and Trap‐Related Photoluminescence of CdTe Quantum Dots Embedded in a NaCl Matrix: Implication in Thermometry

Temperature‐dependent optical studies of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are fundamentally important for a variety of sensing and imaging applications. The steady‐state and time‐resolved photoluminescence properties of CdTe QDs in the size range from 2.3 to 3.1 nm embedded into a protective matrix of NaCl are studied as a function of temperature from 80 to 360 K. The temperature coefficient is found to be strongly dependent on QD size, with the highest sensitivity obtained for the smallest size of QDs. The emission from solid‐state CdTe QD‐based powders is maintained with high color purity over a wide range of temperatures. Photoluminescence lifetime data suggest that temperature dependence of the intrinsic radiative lifetime in CdTe QDs is rather weak, and it is mostly the temperature‐dependent nonradiative decay of CdTe QDs which is responsible for the thermal quenching of photoluminescence intensity. By virtue of the temperature‐dependent photoluminescence behavior, high color purity, photostability, and high photoluminescence quantum yield (26%–37% in the solid state), CdTe QDs embedded in NaCl matrices are useful solid‐state probes for thermal imaging and sensing over a wide range of temperatures within a number of detection schemes and outstanding sensitivity, such as luminescence thermochromic imaging, ratiometric luminescence, and luminescence lifetime thermal sensing.