323 research outputs found
IV-VI resonant cavity enhanced photodetectors for the midinfrared
A resonant-cavity enhanced detector operating in the mid-infrared at a
wavelength around 3.6 micron is demonstrated. The device is based on a
narrow-gap lead salt heterostructure grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Below 140
K, the photovoltage clearly shows a single narrow cavity resonance, with a
relative line width of only 2 % at 80 K.Comment: 2 figure
Forces on Dust Grains Exposed to Anisotropic Interstellar Radiation Fields
Grains exposed to anisotropic radiation fields are subjected to forces due to
the asymmetric photon-stimulated ejection of particles. These forces act in
addition to the ``radiation pressure'' due to absorption and scattering. Here
we model the forces due to photoelectron emission and the photodesorption of
adatoms. The ``photoelectric'' force depends on the ambient conditions relevant
to grain charging. We find that it is comparable to the radiation pressure when
the grain potential is relatively low and the radiation spectrum is relatively
hard. The calculation of the ``photodesorption'' force is highly uncertain,
since the surface physics and chemsitry of grain materials are poorly
understood at present. For our simple yet plausible model, the photodesorption
force dominates the radiation pressure for grains with size >~0.1 micron
exposed to starlight from OB stars. We find that the anisotropy of the
interstellar radiation field is ~10% in the visible and ultraviolet. We
estimate size-dependent drift speeds for grains in the cold and warm neutral
media and find that micron-sized grains could potentially be moved across a
diffuse cloud during its lifetime.Comment: LaTeX(41 pages, 19 figures), submitted to Ap
Efficient room-temperature light-emitters based on partly amorphised Ge quantum dots in crystalline Si
Semiconductor light emitters compatible with standard Si integration
technology (SIT) are of particular interest for overcoming limitations in the
operating speed of microelectronic devices 1-3. Light sources based on group-IV
elements would be SIT compatible but suffer from the poor optoelectronic
properties of bulk Si and Ge. Here, we demonstrate that epitaxially grown Ge
quantum dots (QDs) in a fully coherent Si matrix show extraordinary optical
properties if partially amorphised by Ge-ion bombardment (GIB). The GIB-QDs
exhibit a quasi-direct-band gap and show, in contrast to conventional SiGe
nanostructures, almost no thermal quenching of the photoluminescence (PL) up to
room-temperature (RT). Microdisk resonators with embedded GIB-QDs exhibit
threshold-behaviour and super-linear increase of the integrated PL-intensity
(IPL) with increasing excitation power Pexc which indicates light amplification
by stimulated emission in a fully SIT-compatible group-IV nano-system
Optical Properties of Vanadium in 4H Silicon Carbide for Quantum Technology
We study the optical properties of tetravalent vanadium impurities in 4H
silicon carbide (4H SiC). Emission from two crystalline sites is observed at
wavelengths of 1.28 \mum and 1.33 \mum, with optical lifetimes of 163 ns and 43
ns. Group theory and ab initio density functional supercell calculations enable
unequivocal site assignment and shed light on the spectral features of the
defects. We conclude with a brief outlook on applications in quantum photonics
Strong-field terahertz-optical mixing in excitons
Driving a double-quantum-well excitonic intersubband resonance with a
terahertz (THz) electric field of frequency \omega_{THz} generated terahertz
optical sidebands \omega=\omega_{THz}+\omega_{NIR} on a weak NIR probe. At high
THz intensities, the intersubband dipole energy which coupled two excitons was
comparable to the THz photon energy. In this strong-field regime the sideband
intensity displayed a non-monotonic dependence on the THz field strength. The
oscillating refractive index which gives rise to the sidebands may be
understood by the formation of Floquet states, which oscillate with the same
periodicity as the driving THz field.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Resolving the temporal evolution of line broadening in single quantum emitters
Light emission from solid-state quantum emitters is inherently prone to environmental decoherence, which results in a line broadening and in the deterioration of photon indistinguishability. Here we employ photon correlation Fourier spectroscopy (PCFS) to study the temporal evolution of such a broadening in two prominent systems: GaAs and In(Ga)As quantum dots. Differently from previous experiments, the emitters are driven with short laser pulses as required for the generation of high-purity single photons, the time scales we probe range from a few nanoseconds to milliseconds and, simultaneously, the spectral resolution we achieve can be as small as ∼ 2µeV. We find pronounced differences in the temporal evolution of different optical transition lines, which we attribute to differences in their homogeneous linewidth and sensitivity to charge noise. We analyze the effect of irradiation with additional white light, which reduces blinking at the cost of enhanced charge noise. Due to its robustness against experimental imperfections and its high temporal resolution and bandwidth, PCFS outperforms established spectroscopy techniques, such as Michelson interferometry. We discuss its practical implementation and the possibility to use it to estimate the indistinguishability of consecutively emitted single photons for applications in quantum communication and photonic-based quantum information processing
Light emission from direct band gap germanium containing split-interstitial defects
The lack of useful and cost-efficient group-IV direct band gap light emitters still presents the main bottleneck for complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-compatible short-distance data transmission, single-photon emission, and sensing based on silicon photonics. Germanium, a group-IV element like Si, is already widely used in silicon fabs. While the energy band gap of Ge is intrinsically indirect, we predict that the insertion of Ge-Ge split-[110] interstitials into crystalline Ge can open up a direct band gap transmission path. Here, we calculate from first principles the band structure and optical emission properties of Ge, Sb, and Sn split-[110] interstitials in bulk and low-dimensional Ge at different doping concentrations. Two types of electronic states provide the light-emission enhancement below the direct band gap of Ge: a hybridized L-Γ state at the Brillouin zone center and a conduction band of Δ band character that couples to a raised valence band along the Γ-X direction. Majority carrier introduced to the system through doping can enhance light emission by saturation of nonradiative paths. Ge-Sn split interstitials in Ge shift the top of the valence band towards the Γ-X direction and increase the Γ character of the L-Γ state, which results in a shift to longer emission wavelengths. Key spectral regions for datacom and sensing applications can be covered by applying quantum confinement in defect-enhanced Ge quantum dots for an emission wavelength shift from the midinfrared to the telecom regime.FWN – Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide
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