Enhancement of the Binding Energy of Charged Excitons in Disordered Quantum Wires

Negatively and positively charged excitons are identified in the spatially-resolved photoluminescence spectra of quantum wires. We demonstrate that charged excitons are weakly localized in disordered quantum wires. As a consequence, the enhancement of the "binding energy" of a charged exciton is caused, for a significant part, by the recoil energy transferred to the remaining charged carrier during its radiative recombination. We discover that the Coulomb correlation energy is not the sole origin of the "binding energy", in contrast to charged excitons confined in quantum dots.Comment: 4 Fig

Shake-up Processes in a Low-Density Two-Dimensional Electron Gas: Spin-Dependent Transitions to Higher Hole Landau Levels

A theory of shake-up processes in photoabsorption of an interacting low-density two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in strong magnetic fields is presented. In these processes, an incident photon creates an electron-hole pair and, because of Coulomb interactions, simultaneously excites one particle to higher Landau levels (LL's). In this work, the spectra of correlated charged spin-singlet and spin-triplet electron-hole states in the first hole LL and optical transitions to these states (i.e., shake-ups to the first hole LL) are studied. Our results indicate, in particular, the presence of optically-active three-particle quasi-discrete states in the exciton continuum that may give rise to surprisingly sharp Fano resonances in strong magnetic fields. The relation between shake-ups in photoabsorption of the 2DEG and in the 2D hole gas (2DHG), and shake-ups of isolated negative X^- and positive X^+ trions are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures. References updated, one figure added (Fig. 6). Accepted in Phys. Rev.

Manipulation of the Spin Memory of Electrons in n-GaAs

We report on the optical manipulation of the electron spin relaxation time in a GaAs based heterostructure. Experimental and theoretical study shows that the average electron spin relaxes through hyperfine interaction with the lattice nuclei, and that the rate can be controlled by the electron-electron interactions. This time has been changed from 300 ns down to 5 ns by variation of the laser frequency. This modification originates in the optically induced depletion of n-GaAs layer

Unintentional high density p-type modulation doping of a GaAs/AlAs core-multi-shell nanowire

Achieving significant doping in GaAs/AlAs core/shell nanowires (NWs) is of considerable technological importance but remains a challenge due to the amphoteric behavior of the dopant atoms. Here we show that placing a narrow GaAs quantum well in the AlAs shell effectively getters residual carbon acceptors leading to an \emph{unintentional} p-type doping. Magneto-optical studies of such a GaAs/AlAs core multi-shell NW reveal quantum confined emission. Theoretical calculations of NW electronic structure confirm quantum confinement of carriers at the core/shell interface due to the presence of ionized carbon acceptors in the 1~nm GaAs layer in the shell. Micro-photoluminescence in high magnetic field shows a clear signature of avoided crossings of the $n=0$ Landau level emission line with the $n=2$ Landau level TO phonon replica. The coupling is caused by the resonant hole-phonon interaction, which points to a large 2D hole density in the structure.Comment: just published in Nano Letters (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/nl500818k

Theory of neutral and charged exciton scattering with electrons in semiconductor quantum wells

Electron scattering on both neutral ($X$) and charged ($X^-$) excitons in quantum wells is studied theoretically. A microscopic model is presented, taking into account both elastic and dissociating scattering. The model is based on calculating the exciton-electron direct and exchange interaction matrix elements, from which we derive the exciton scattering rates. We find that for an electron density of $10^9 {\rm cm}^{-2}$ in a GaAs QW at $T=5K$, the $X^-$ linewidth due to electron scattering is roughly twice as large as that of the neutral exciton. This reflects both the $X^-$ larger interaction matrix elements compared with those of $X$, and their different dependence on the transferred momentum. Calculated reflection spectra can then be obtained by considering the three electronic excitations of the system, namely, the heavy-hole and light-hole 1S neutral excitons, and the heavy-hole 1S charged exciton, with the appropriate oscillator strengths.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure

Perception of clear fricatives by normal-hearing and simulated hearing-impaired listeners

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://scitation.aip.org/content/asa/journal/jasa/123/2/10.1121/1.2821966.Speakers may adapt the phonetic details of their productions when they anticipate perceptual difficulty or comprehension failure on the part of a listener. Previous research suggests that a speaking style known as clear speech is more intelligible overall than casual, conversational speech for a variety of listener populations. However, it is unknown whether clear speech improves the intelligibility of fricative consonants specifically, or how its effects on fricative perception might differ depending on listener population. The primary goal of this study was to determine whether clear speech enhances fricative intelligibility for normal-hearing listeners and listeners with simulated impairment. Two experiments measured babble signal-to-noise ratio thresholds for fricative minimal pair distinctions for 14 normal-hearing listeners and 14 listeners with simulated sloping, recruiting impairment. Results indicated that clear speech helped both groups overall. However, for impaired listeners, reliable clear speech intelligibility advantages were not found for non-sibilant pairs. Correlation analyses comparing acoustic and perceptual data indicated that a shift of energy concentration toward higher frequency regions and greater source strength contributed to the clear speecheffect for normal-hearing listeners. Correlations between acoustic and perceptual data were less consistent for listeners with simulated impairment, and suggested that lower-frequency information may play a role

Binding Energy of Charged Excitons in ZnSe-based Quantum Wells

Excitons and charged excitons (trions) are investigated in ZnSe-based quantum well structures with (Zn,Be,Mg)Se and (Zn,Mg)(S,Se) barriers by means of magneto-optical spectroscopy. Binding energies of negatively () and positively (X+) charged excitons are measured as functions of quantum well width, free carrier density and in external magnetic fields up to 47 T. The binding energy of shows a strong increase from 1.4 to 8.9 meV with decreasing quantum well width from 190 to 29 A. The binding energies of X+ are about 25% smaller than the binding energy in the same structures. The magnetic field behavior of and X+ binding energies differ qualitatively. With growing magnetic field strength, increases its binding energy by 35-150%, while for X+ it decreases by 25%. Zeeman spin splittings and oscillator strengths of excitons and trions are measured and discussed

Magnetic field dependence of the energy of negatively charged excitons in semiconductor quantum wells

A variational calculation of the spin-singlet and spin-triplet state of a negatively charged exciton (trion) confined to a single quantum well and in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field is presented. We calculated the probability density and the pair correlation function of the singlet and triplet trion states. The dependence of the energy levels and of the binding energy on the well width and on the magnetic field strength was investigated. We compared our results with the available experimental data on GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells and find that in the low magnetic field region (B<18 T) the observed transition are those of the singlet and the dark triplet trion (with angular momentum $L_z=-1$), while for high magnetic fields (B>25 T) the dark trion becomes optically inactive and possibly a transition to a bright triplet trion (angular momentum $L_z=0$) state is observed.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures submitted to Phys. Rev.

Photoluminescence investigations of 2D hole Landau levels in p-type single Al_{x}Ga_{1-x}As/GaAs heterostructures

We study the energy structure of two-dimensional holes in p-type single Al_{1-x}Ga_{x}As/GaAs heterojunctions under a perpendicular magnetic field. Photoluminescence measurments with low densities of excitation power reveal rich spectra containing both free and bound-carrier transitions. The experimental results are compared with energies of valence-subband Landau levels calculated using a new numerical procedure and a good agreement is achieved. Additional lines observed in the energy range of free-carrier recombinations are attributed to excitonic transitions. We also consider the role of many-body effects in photoluminescence spectra.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted to Physical Review

Negatively Charged Excitons and Photoluminescence in Asymmetric Quantum Well

We study photoluminescence (PL) of charged excitons ($X^-$) in narrow asymmetric quantum wells in high magnetic fields B. The binding of all $X^-$ states strongly depends on the separation $\delta$ of electron and hole layers. The most sensitive is the ``bright'' singlet, whose binding energy decreases quickly with increasing $\delta$ even at relatively small B. As a result, the value of B at which the singlet--triplet crossing occurs in the $X^-$ spectrum also depends on $\delta$ and decreases from 35 T in a symmetric 10 nm GaAs well to 16 T for $\delta=0.5$ nm. Since the critical values of $\delta$ at which different $X^-$ states unbind are surprisingly small compared to the well width, the observation of strongly bound $X^-$ states in an experimental PL spectrum implies virtually no layer displacement in the sample. This casts doubt on the interpretation of PL spectra of heterojunctions in terms of $X^-$ recombination