162 research outputs found
Anomalous magnetophotoluminescence as a result of level repulsion in arrays of quantum dots
Selectively excited photoluminescence (SPL) of an array of self-organized
InGaAs quantum dots has been measured in a magnetic field up to
11T. Anomalous magnetic field sensitivity of the SPL spectra has been observed
under conditions for which the regular photoluminescence spectra is insensitive
to the magnetic field due to large inhomogeneous broadening. The anomalous
sensitivity is interpreted in terms of the repulsion of excited levels of the
dots in a random potential. A theory presented to describe this phenomena is in
excellent agreement with the experimental data. The data estimated the
correlation in the positions of excited levels of the dots to be 94%. The
magnetic field dependence allows the determination of the reduced cyclotron
effective mass in a dot. For our sample we have obtained
.Comment: 12 revtex preprint pages + 4 ps figures, uuencode
Correlated Photon-Pair Emission from a Charged Single Quantum Dot
The optical creation and recombination of charged biexciton and trion
complexes in an (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dot is investigated by
micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy. Photon cross-correlation measurements
demonstrate the temporally correlated decay of charged biexciton and trion
states. Our calculations provide strong evidence for radiative decay from the
excited trion state which allows for a deeper insight into the spin
configurations and their dynamics in these systems.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted for publicatio
Ensemble interactions in strained semiconductor quantum dots
Large variations in InxGa1-xAs quantum dot concentrations were obtained with simultaneous growths on vicinal GaAs [001] substrates with different surface step densities. It was found that decreasing dot-dot separation blueshifts all levels, narrows intersublevel transition energies, shortens luminescence decay times for excited states, and increases inhomogeneous photoluminescence broadening. These changes in optical properties are attributed to a progressive strain deformation of the confining potentials and to the increasing effects of positional disorder in denser dot ensembles
Spatially Resolved Visible Luminescence of Self-Assembled Semiconductor Quantum Dots
Ensembles of defect-free InAIAs islands of ultrasmall dimensions embedded in AIGaAs have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Cathodoluminescence was used to directly image the spatial distribution of the quantum dots by mapping their luminescence and to spectrally resolve very sharp peaks from small groups of dots, thus providing experimental verification for the discrete density of states in a zero-dimensional quantum structure. Visible luminescence is produced by different nominal compositions of InxAI(1-x)As-AIyGa(1-y)As.NRC publication: Ye
Multi-Exciton Spectroscopy of a Single Self Assembled Quantum Dot
We apply low temperature confocal optical microscopy to spatially resolve,
and spectroscopically study a single self assembled quantum dot. By comparing
the emission spectra obtained at various excitation levels to a theoretical
many body model, we show that: Single exciton radiative recombination is very
weak. Sharp spectral lines are due to optical transitions between confined
multiexcitonic states among which excitons thermalize within their lifetime.
Once these few states are fully occupied, broad bands appear due to transitions
between states which contain continuum electrons.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publication on Jan,28 199
Resonant scattering in a strong magnetic field: exact density of states
We study the structure of 2D electronic states in a strong magnetic field in
the presence of a large number of resonant scatterers. For an electron in the
lowest Landau level, we derive the exact density of states by mapping the
problem onto a zero-dimensional field-theoretical model. We demonstrate that
the interplay between resonant and non-resonant scattering leads to a
non-analytic energy dependence of the electron Green function. In particular,
for strong resonant scattering the density of states develops a gap in a finite
energy interval. The shape of the Landau level is shown to be very sensitive to
the distribution of resonant scatterers.Comment: 12 pages + 3 fig
Spin interactions and switching in vertically tunnel-coupled quantum dots
We determine the spin exchange coupling J between two electrons located in
two vertically tunnel-coupled quantum dots, and its variation when magnetic (B)
and electric (E) fields (both in-plane and perpendicular) are applied. We
predict a strong decrease of J as the in-plane B field is increased, mainly due
to orbital compression. Combined with the Zeeman splitting, this leads to a
singlet-triplet crossing, which can be observed as a pronounced jump in the
magnetization at in-plane fields of a few Tesla, and perpendicular fields of
the order of 10 Tesla for typical self-assembled dots. We use harmonic
potentials to model the confining of electrons, and calculate the exchange J
using the Heitler-London and Hund-Mulliken technique, including the long-range
Coulomb interaction. With our results we provide experimental criteria for the
distinction of singlet and triplet states and therefore for microscopic spin
measurements. In the case where dots of different sizes are coupled, we present
a simple method to switch on and off the spin coupling with exponential
sensitivity using an in-plane electric field. Switching the spin coupling is
essential for quantum computation using electronic spins as qubits.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure
Electronic States and Light Absorption in a Cylindrical Quantum Dot Having Thin Falciform Cross Section
Energy level structure and direct light absorption in a cylindrical quantum dot (CQD), having thin falciform cross section, are studied within the framework of the adiabatic approximation. An analytical expression for the energy spectrum of the particle is obtained. For the one-dimensional âfastâ subsystem, an oscillatory dependence of the wave function amplitude on the cross section parameters is revealed. For treatment of the âslowâ subsystem, parabolic and modified Pöschl-Teller effective potentials are used. It is shown that the low-energy levels of the spectrum are equidistant. In the strong quantization regime, the absorption coefficient and edge frequencies are calculated. Selection rules for the corresponding quantum transitions are obtained
Identification of a novel truncating PALB2 mutation and analysis of its contribution to early-onset breast cancer in French-Canadian women
Abstract
Background
PALB2 has recently been identified as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. PALB2 mutations are rare causes of hereditary breast cancer but may be important in countries such as Finland where a founder mutation is present. We sought to estimate the contribution of PALB2 mutations to the burden of breast cancer in French Canadians from Quebec.
Methods
We screened all coding exons of PALB2 in a sample of 50 French-Canadian women diagnosed with either early-onset breast cancer or familial breast cancer at a single Montreal hospital. The genetic variants identified in this sample were then studied in 356 additional women with breast cancer diagnosed before age 50 and in 6,448 newborn controls.
Results
We identified a single protein-truncating mutation in PALB2 (c.2323 C>T, resulting in Q775X) in 1 of the 50 high-risk women. This variant was present in 2 of 356 breast cancer cases and in none of 6,440 newborn French-Canadian controls (P = 0.003). We also identified two novel new non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in exon 4 of PALB2 (c.5038 A>G [I76V] and c.5156 G>T [G115V]). G115V was found in 1 of 356 cases and in 15 of 6,442 controls (P = 0.6). The I76V variant was not identified in either the extended case series or the controls.
Conclusion
We have identified a novel truncating mutation in PALB2. The mutation was found in approximately 0.5% of unselected French-Canadian women with early-onset breast cancer and appears to have a single origin. Although mutations are infrequent, PALB2 can be added to the list of breast cancer susceptibility genes for which founder mutations have been identified in the French-Canadian population
Excitons, biexcitons, and phonons in ultrathin CdSe/ZnSe quantum structures
The optical properties of CdSe nanostructures grown by migration-enhanced epitaxy of CdSe on ZnSe are studied by time-, energy-, and temperature-dependent photoluminescence and excitation spectroscopy, as well as by polarization-dependent four-wave mixing and two-photon absorption experiments. The nanostructures consist of a coherently strained Zn1âxCdxSe/ZnSe quantum well with embedded islands of higher Cd content with sizes of a few nanometer due to strain-induced CdSe accumulation. The local increase in CdSe concentration results in a strong localization of the excitonic wave function, in an increase in radiative lifetime, and a decrease of the dephasing rate. Local LO-phonon modes caused by the strong modulation of the Cd concentration profile are found in phonon-assisted relaxation processes. Confined biexcitons with large binding energies between 20 and 24 meV are observed, indicating the important role of biexcitons even at room temperature
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