Circular polarization in a non-magnetic resonant tunneling device

We have investigated the polarization-resolved photoluminescence (PL) in an asymmetric n-type GaAs/AlAs/GaAlAs resonant tunneling diode under magnetic field parallel to the tunnel current. The quantum well (QW) PL presents strong circular polarization (values up to -70% at 19 T). The optical emission from GaAs contact layers shows evidence of highly spin-polarized two-dimensional electron and hole gases which affects the spin polarization of carriers in the QW. However, the circular polarization degree in the QW also depends on various other parameters, including the g-factors of the different layers, the density of carriers along the structure, and the Zeeman and Rashba effects

Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications

Spintronics, or spin electronics, involves the study of active control and manipulation of spin degrees of freedom in solid-state systems. This article reviews the current status of this subject, including both recent advances and well-established results. The primary focus is on the basic physical principles underlying the generation of carrier spin polarization, spin dynamics, and spin-polarized transport in semiconductors and metals. Spin transport differs from charge transport in that spin is a nonconserved quantity in solids due to spin-orbit and hyperfine coupling. The authors discuss in detail spin decoherence mechanisms in metals and semiconductors. Various theories of spin injection and spin-polarized transport are applied to hybrid structures relevant to spin-based devices and fundamental studies of materials properties. Experimental work is reviewed with the emphasis on projected applications, in which external electric and magnetic fields and illumination by light will be used to control spin and charge dynamics to create new functionalities not feasible or ineffective with conventional electronics.Comment: invited review, 36 figures, 900+ references; minor stylistic changes from the published versio

Nuclear spin physics in quantum dots: an optical investigation

The mesoscopic spin system formed by the 10E4-10E6 nuclear spins in a semiconductor quantum dot offers a unique setting for the study of many-body spin physics in the condensed matter. The dynamics of this system and its coupling to electron spins is fundamentally different from its bulk counter-part as well as that of atoms due to increased fluctuations that result from reduced dimensions. In recent years, the interest in studying quantum dot nuclear spin systems and their coupling to confined electron spins has been fueled by its direct implication for possible applications of such systems in quantum information processing as well as by the fascinating nonlinear (quantum-)dynamics of the coupled electron-nuclear spin system. In this article, we review experimental work performed over the last decades in studying this mesoscopic,coupled electron-nuclear spin system and discuss how optical addressing of electron spins can be exploited to manipulate and read-out quantum dot nuclei. We discuss how such techniques have been applied in quantum dots to efficiently establish a non-zero mean nuclear spin polarization and, most recently, were used to reduce fluctuations of the average quantum dot nuclear spin orientation. Both results in turn have important implications for the preservation of electron spin coherence in quantum dots, which we discuss. We conclude by speculating how this recently gained understanding of the quantum dot nuclear spin system could in the future enable experimental observation of quantum-mechanical signatures or possible collective behavior of mesoscopic nuclear spin ensembles.Comment: 61 pages, 45 figures, updated reference list, corrected typographical error

Ultrafast acoustic strain generation and effects in semiconductor nanostructures

The nature of ultrafast acoustic strain generation and effects in III-V semiconductor-based nanostructures is explored in this thesis via experimental observations that are supported by theoretical analysis. Specifically, coherent phonon generation processes in bulk gallium arsenide (GaAs) are investigated through remote hypersonic detection using a double quantum well-embedded p-i-n diode, after which strain-induced effects in a double barrier quantum well resonant tunnelling diode are examined. Finally, preliminary studies on acoustic modulation of a double barrier quantum dot resonant tunnelling diode are also considered, with recommendations for future experimentation. It was experimentally observed that the transduction of strain in bulk GaAs produces an initial acoustic wavepacket that is strongly asymmetric with a heavily damped leading edge. This was determined to be due to photogeneration of a supersonically expanding electron-hole plasma near the irradiated GaAs surface. Coupled with its propagation from the free surface, the plasma generates stress and therefore strain in the system that is caused by a combination of the deformation potential and thermoelasticity; the former and latter are shown to be dominant for low and high optical excitation densities, respectively. These acoustic waves cannot escape the plasma until it has decelerated to subsonic velocities, which is achieved in a finite time, thus resulting in the observed asymmetry and damped leading edge. This finite acoustic escape time was reduced at high optical excitation densities due to plasma expansion limitation by increased non-radiative Auger recombination of electron-hole pairs. This conclusion is substantiated by analytical expressions derived from the inhomogeneous wave equation, and analysis of the spatially- and temporally-expanding plasma density based on the deformation potential mechanism only. Numerical simulations based on these expressions are fitted to the experimental data, and the thermoelasticity contribution at high excitation densities is deduced from a non-linear deviation of the electron-hole recombination rate and a change in the duration of the leading edge. This contribution expressed a square-law behaviour in the former parameter, which is attributed to non-radiative Auger processes. Strain-induced effects on a double barrier quantum well resonant tunnelling diode resulted in the detection of current modulation on a picosecond timescale only when the device was biased within its resonance region, with the largest modulations at the resonance threshold and peak biases. Through analysis of the device structure and stationary current-voltage characteristics, it is demonstrated that the observed current changes are due to variations of the resonant tunnelling rate caused by acoustic modulation of the confined ground state energies in the diode itself. Numerical analysis of the tunnelling rates provided excellent agreement with the experimental data, particularly when comparing charge transfer rates, where the limited temporal response of the experimental device could be ignored. Furthermore, the charge transferred at the resonance threshold and peak has a set polarity regardless of optical excitation density, and therefore the device possesses “rectifying” behaviour. As such, it has been demonstrated that, by exploiting this acoustoelectronic pumping effect, control of picosecond charge transfer in a resonant tunnelling diode or its application as a hypersonic detector are possible. In closing, the mechanisms for strain generation in bulk GaAs and the utilisation of the acoustoelectronic pumping effect in a double barrier quantum well resonant tunnelling diode are both exhibited in this work, and provide promising evidence and novel hypersonic detection methods for future research into ultrafast acoustic effects in semiconductor nanostructures

Monolithic integration for nonlinear optical frequency conversion in semiconductor waveguides

This thesis presents an investigation into the feasibility of tunable, monolithically integrated, nonlinear optical frequency conversion sources which work under the principles of an optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The room-temperature continuous wave (CW) operation of these devices produces narrow line-width, near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, primarily used in chemical sensing applications. The devices detailed here, based on the GaAs–AlGaAs superlattice material system, benefit from post growth, ion implantation induced, quantum well intermixing, to achieve 1st order phase matching. The experiments, which have been performed to optimize the second-order nonlinear processes in our GaAs–AlGaAs superlattice waveguides, have demonstrated improved conversion efficiencies when compared to the performance achieved previously in similar superlattice nonlinear waveguides. We have achieved pulsed type-I phase matched second harmonic generation (SHG) with powers up to 3.65 μW (average pulse power), CW type-I phase matched SHG up to 1.6 μW for the first time, and pulsed type-II phase matched SHG up to 2 μW (average pulse power), again for the first time. Moreover, we have been able to achieve both CW type-I and CW type-II phase matched difference frequency generation, which converts C-band wavelengths into L- and U-band wavelengths, over at least a 20 nm conversion bandwidth. These results have been made possible through the systematic optimization of processes developed to fabricate nonlinear optical waveguides. Fabrication processes have also been developed to facilitate the incorporation of on-chip lasers and optical routing components, required to achieve a fully integrated OPO and nonlinear optical frequency converter. The optical routing in these devices has been demonstrated using a frequency selective multi-mode interference (MMI) coupler. The superlattice laser material has been designed by optimizing the material structure and employing different growth technologies. Room-temperature CW laser action has been achieved in 100 nm thick, superlattice core, half-ring lasers. The laser excitation is measured at 801 nm, and the internal power of the on-chip pump is estimated to be in excess of 200 mW in a full-ring, after accounting for optical routing, linear, bending and nonlinear losses. We have been able to conclude that our designed OPO and frequency converter is just feasible with the performance achieved in different components

Evanescent channels and scattering in cylindrical nanowire heterostructures

We investigate the scattering phenomena produced by a general finite range non-separable potential in a multi-channel two-probe cylindrical nanowire heterostructure. The multi-channel current scattering matrix is efficiently computed using the R-matrix formalism extended for cylindrical coordinates. Considering the contribution of the evanescent channels to the scattering matrix, we are able to put in evidence the specific dips in the tunneling coefficient in the case of an attractive potential. The cylindrical symmetry cancels the ''selection rules'' known for Cartesian coordinates. If the attractive potential is superposed over a non-uniform potential along the nanowire, then resonant transmission peaks appear. We can characterize them quantitatively through the poles of the current scattering matrix. Detailed maps of the localization probability density sustain the physical interpretation of the resonances (dips and peaks). Our formalism is applied to a variety of model systems like a quantum dot, a core/shell quantum ring or a double barrier, embedded into the nano-cylinder