Light Controlled Optical Aharonov-Bohm Oscillations in a Single Quantum Ring

Nano Lett. 2018 Oct 10;18(10):6188-6194. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b02131. Epub 2018 Sep 20.

Abstract

We found that optical Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in a single GaAs/GaAlAs quantum ring can be controlled by excitation intensity. With a weak excitation intensity of 1.2 kW cm-2, the optical Aharonov-Bohm oscillation period of biexcitons was observed to be half that of excitons in accordance with the period expected for a two-exciton Wigner molecule. When the excitation intensity is increased by an order of magnitude (12 kW cm-2), a gradual deviation of the Wigner molecule condition occurs with decreased oscillation periods and diamagnetic coefficients for both excitons and biexcitons along with a spectral shift. These results suggest that the effective orbit radii and rim widths of electrons and holes in a single quantum ring can be modified by light intensity via photoexcited carriers, which are possibly trapped at interface defects resulting in a local electric field.

Keywords: Aharonov−Bohm effect; Quantum rings; excitons; light excitation; photoluminescence.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't