Control of the 3-Fold Symmetric Shape of Group III-Nitride Quantum Dots: Suppression of Fine-Structure Splitting

Nano Lett. 2020 Dec 9;20(12):8461-8468. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02236. Epub 2020 Sep 16.

Abstract

Controlling the in-plane symmetry of wide-bandgap semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) is essential for room temperature quantum photonic applications using polarization entangled photon pairs. Herein, we report the formation of 3-fold symmetric group III-nitride QDs at the apex of a triangular pyramid via a self-limited growth mechanism. We employed the in-plane rotational symmetry of the c-plane of a Wurtzite crystal and the large built-in piezoelectric field to reduce fine-structure splitting. The QDs exhibit emission that is distinguishable from that of sidewall quantum wells, and the biexciton-exciton cascade possesses a single-photon nature. We observed the relatively low optical polarization anisotropy and small fine structure splitting under the measurement limit (270 μeV) with the 3-fold symmetric QD. In contrast with current strategies that consider group III-nitride QDs as strongly polarized single-photon emitters, our approach for controlling the QD symmetry provides a new perspective on such QDs, as polarization-entangled photon pairs.

Keywords: 3-Fold symmetry; Biexciton−exciton cascade; Fine-structure splitting; Self-limited growth; Site-controlled group III-nitride quantum dot.