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arXiv:0807.4920 · Journal of Applied Physics

Photon storage with subnanosecond readout rise time in coupled quantum wells

A. G. Winbow, L. V. Butov, Arthur C. Gossard

Published Sep 15, 2008• 13 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Photon storage with 250 ps rise time of the readout optical signal was implemented with indirect excitons in coupled quantum well (CQW) nanostructures. The storage and release of photons was controlled by the gate voltage pulse. The transient processes in the CQW were studied by measuring the kinetics of the exciton emission spectra after application of the gate voltage pulse. Strong oscillations of the exciton emission wavelength were observed in the transient regime when the gate voltage pulse was carried over an ordinary wire. Gating the CQW via an impedance-matched broadband transmission line has lead to an effective elimination of these transient oscillations and expedient switching of the exciton energy to a required value within a short time, much shorter than the exciton lifetime.

DOI
10.1063/1.2978214

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Photon storage with 250 ps rise time of the readout optical signal was implemented with indirect excitons in coupled quantum well (CQW) nanostructures. The storage and release of photons was controlled by the gate voltage pulse. The transient processes in the CQW were studied by measuring the kinetics of the exciton emission spectra after application of the gate voltage pulse. Strong oscillations of the exciton emission wavelength were observed in the transient regime when the gate voltage pulse was carried over an ordinary wire. Gating the CQW via an impedance-matched broadband transmission line has lead to an effective elimination of these transient oscillations and expedient switching of the exciton energy to a required value within a short time, much shorter than the exciton lifetime.
Indirect excitons in GaAs coupled quantum well nanostructures are a versatile system for fundamental study of cold neutral bosonic gases and demonstration of novel optoelectronic devices based on excitons -- a bound electron-hole pair -- rather than electrons. Indirect exciton lifetimes range from nanoseconds to microseconds and cool rapidly after photoexcitation to the lattice temperature. Lithographically-patterned electrodes enable design of potential energy landscapes, and both energy and lifetime can be controlled in situ, rapidly, on timescales much shorter than the exciton lifetime. Such intrinsically optoelectronic devices can operate at speeds relevant to optical networks, and later be fabricated in other semiconductors for higher-temperature operation. Two different kinds of devices are demonstrated Photon storage -- an optical memory -- with 250 ps rise time of the readout optical signal and storage time reaching microseconds was implemented with indirect excitons in CQW. The storage and release of photons was controlled by the gate voltage pulse, and the transient processes in the CQW studied by measuring the kinetics of the exciton emission spectra. This control of excitons on timescales much shorter than the exciton lifetime demonstrates the feasibility of studying excitons in in situ controlled electrostatic traps. The Exciton Conveyer is a laterally moving electrostatic lattice potential for actively transporting excitons. Generated by laterally modulated electrodes, the potential velocity and depth are controlled in situ by frequency and voltage. We observed exciton transport characterized by average exciton cloud spatial extension over several tens of microns, and observed dynamical localization-delocalization transitions for the excitons in the conveyer : In the localization regime of deeper potentials and moderate exciton density, excitons are moved by the conveyer; in the delocalized regime of shallower lattice potential or high exciton density, excitons do not follow the conveyer motion. We explore conveyer velocities both slower and faster than phonon velocities. Realizing subnanosecond manipulations of exciton energy and lifetime required versatile control of pulsed and multiple AC RF electrical signals in optical, liquid helium cryogenic systems. Considerable detail is presented of design, construction, and test of flexible experimental apparatus
Summary form only given. Optical interactions in semiconductor microcavities embedded with quantum wells enter a nonperturbative regime when the dipole coupling rate between the exciton and the cavity mode exceeds relevant decay rates. In this regime, coherent energy exchange between the exciton and the cavity mode, i.e. normal mode oscillation (NMO), takes place when the cavity mode is excited impulsively by a short laser pulse. Similar coherent oscillations have also been observed in transient four-wave mixing (FWM) responses. In this paper, we present experimental and theoretical studies on the nature of oscillations in these transient FWM responses. We show that, in contrast to earlier beliefs, oscillations in time-integrated transient FWM do not correspond to NMO of the exciton or photon populations. Theoretical studies further reveal that FWM arising from different physical mechanisms including band filling, excitation-induced dephasing, and renormalized electric fields is characterized by highly distinct coherent dynamics. Oscillations in transient FWM reflect interference between these coherent optical processes and can be used as a unique probe for exciton many-body interactions in the nonperturbative regime.
Storage and retrieval of excitons were demonstrated with semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). The optically generated excitons were dissociated and stored as separated electron-hole pairs in coupled QD pairs. A bias voltage restored the excitons, which recombined radiatively to provide a readout optical signal. The localization of the spatially separated electron-hole pair in QDs was responsible for the ultralong storage times, which were on the order of several seconds. The present limits of this optical storage medium are discussed.
The time evolution and kinetics of photoluminescence (PL) spectra of interwell excitons in double GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells ( n-i-n structures) have been investigated under the pulse resonance excitation of intrawell 1sHH excitons using a pulsed tunable laser. It is found that the collective exciton phase arises with a time delay relative to the exciting pulse (several nanoseconds), which is due to density and temperature relaxation to the equilibrium values. The origination of the collective phase of interwell excitons is accompanied by a strong narrowing of the corresponding photoluminescence line (the line width is about 1.1 meV), a superlinear rise in its intensity, a long time in the change of the degree of circular polarization, a displacement of the PL spectrum toward lower energies (about 1.5 meV) in accordance with the filling of the lowest state with the exciton Bose condensate, and a significant increase in the radiative decay rate of the condensed phase. The collective exciton phase arises at temperatures T <6 K and interwell exciton densities n =3×10 10 cm −2 . Coherent properties of the collective phase of interwell excitons and experimental manifestations of this coherence are discussed.
Quantum dots (QDs) are an excellent single-photon source that can be combined with a spin quantum memory. Many quantum technologies require increased control over the characteristics of emitted photons. A powerful approach is to trigger coherent Raman photons from QDs with a Λ energy-level system, such as the spin singlet-triplet system in two coupled QDs. The temporal and spectral behavior of single Raman photons can be varied simply by modifying the excitation source. Here, we demonstrate control of the single-photon pulse shape in a solid-state system on a timescale much shorter than the radiative lifetime, in addition to control of the frequency and bandwidth. We achieve a photon pulse width of 80 ps-an order of magnitude shorter than the exciton lifetime. Possible applications include time-bin encoding of quantum information, matching photons from different sources, and efficient single-photon transfer in a quantum network.