Photocurrent spectroscopy of single InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Abstract

In this work, we present a carrier escape study from InAs/GaAs self assembled QD's by the use of photocurrent measurements. As a function of the applied field, we detect a shift of the exciton ground state transition due to the quantum-confined Stark shift. ¿From the measured Stark shift S = 4:3 meV we deduce a exciton dipole moment of p = (4.3 ± 0.2) × 10–29 Cm. The tunneling time, which is directly related to the observed photocurrent linewidth due to τ ∼ ħ/(2Γ), changes by a factor of five in the photocurrent regime. The measured linewidth dependency on the electric field is modelled by a simple 1D WKB approximation for the tunneling process, which shows that the energetic position of the wetting layer is important for the measured tunneling time out of the dot. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)