We report the effects of tunnel coupling on the Quantum-Confined Stark Effect (QCSE) for excitons in InAs/GaAs coupled quantum dots (CQDs). As the barrier separating the dots is reduced, the zero-field dipole moment and the polarizability are both found to increase. This systematic variation as a function of barrier thickness is due to factors including the formation of molecular wavefunctions, the electron/hole effective masses, and the CQD structural properties. The dipole moment for the interdot exciton is found to be up to 100 times larger than that of the intradot exciton resulting in a predominantly linear shift with field. The ability to control the QCSE of the exciton in a single CQD could be useful for a new class of single photon optical switches and tunable emitters.

We present the polarization dependent photoluminescence from coupled InAs quantum dots. We find polarization memory signatures consistent with those reported for single quantum dots. We also observe a continuous change in the polarization memory of the positively charged exciton as it changes charge configuration due to a hole tunnelling as a function of applied bias. This may provide a method for electrical control of the anisotropic exchange interaction which would be useful for spin manipulation. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

No abstract

Coupled quantum dots (CQDs) can provide a sensitive probe of the electric field within a device. With non-resonant excitation above the wetting layer (WL) energy, optical generation of an electric field within the CQD structure was observed. By alternating this non-resonant excitation the temporal response of the optically generated electric field was measured. Decay of this field was measured to be on the order of 110-140 μsec whereas the onset of the optically generated electric field was observed to be less than the temporal resolution of our experiment (7.5 μsec). This may provide a means for fast, non-contact, electric field modulation techniques.

No abstract