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arXiv:2512.23016 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Efficient population transfer in a quantum dot exciton under phonon-induced decoherence via shortcuts to adiabaticity

Spyridon G. Kosionis, Sutirtha Biswas, Christina Fouseki, Dionisis Stefanatos, Emmanuel Paspalakis

cond-mat.mes-hallquant-phSubmitted Dec 28, 2025• Announced Dec 30, 2025• 7 citations

Abstract

In the present study, we apply shortcut to adiabaticity pulses (time-dependent Rabi frequency and detuning) for the efficient population transfer from the ground to the exciton state in a GaAs/InGaAs quantum dot with phonon-induced dephasing. We use the time-evolving matrix product operator (TEMPO) method to propagate system in time and find that, for temperatures below $ 20 \ \text{K} $ and pulse duration up to $ 10 \ \text{ps} $, a very good transfer efficiency is obtained in general. We explain these results using a Bloch-like equation derived from a generalized Lindblad equation, which adequately describes system dynamics at lower temperatures. For higher temperatures, the transfer efficiency is significantly reduced except for subpicosecond pulses, where the shortcut Rabi frequency reduces to a delta pulse attaining a fast population inversion. The present work is expected to find application in quantum technologies which exploit quantum dots for single-photon generation on demand.

Journal reference: Physical Review B 112, 075304 (2025)
DOI: 10.1103/m1cc-l6ng

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In the present study, we apply shortcut to adiabaticity pulses (time-dependent Rabi frequency and detuning) for the efficient population transfer from the ground to the exciton state in a GaAs/InGaAs quantum dot with phonon-induced dephasing. We use the time-evolving matrix product operator (TEMPO) method to propagate system in time and find that, for temperatures below

20 \ \text{K}

and pulse duration up to

10 \ \text{ps}

, a very good transfer efficiency is obtained in general. We explain these results using a Bloch-like equation derived from a generalized Lindblad equation, which adequately describes system dynamics at lower temperatures. For higher temperatures, the transfer efficiency is significantly reduced except for subpicosecond pulses, where the shortcut Rabi frequency reduces to a delta pulse attaining a fast population inversion. The present work is expected to find application in quantum technologies which exploit quantum dots for single-photon generation on demand.

We demonstrate a new method to realize the population inversion of a single InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot excited by a laser pulse tuned within the neutral exciton phonon sideband. In contrast to the conventional method of inverting a two-level system by performing coherent Rabi oscillation, the inversion is achieved by rapid thermalization of the optically dressed states via incoherent phonon-assisted relaxation. A maximum exciton population of 0.67±0.06 is measured for a laser tuned 0.83 meV to higher energy. Furthermore, the phonon sideband is mapped using a two-color pump-probe technique, with its spectral form and magnitude in very good agreement with the result of path-integral calculations.

We demonstrate adiabatic rapid passage on a subpicosecond time scale in a single semiconductor quantum dot, enabling the exploration of a regime of strong (and rapidly varying) Rabi energies for optical control of excitons. An observed dependence of the exciton inversion efficiency on the sign of the pulse chirp demonstrates the dominance of phonon-mediated dephasing, which is suppressed for positive chirp at low temperature. Our findings will support the realization of dynamical decoupling strategies and suggest that multiphonon emission and/or non-Markovian effects should be taken into account.

We study the efficient preparation of the exciton state in a hybrid nanostructure composed by a semiconductor quantum dot and a metallic nanoparticle, when starting from the ground state, using pulses derived with the method of shortcuts to adiabaticity. We show with numerical simulations that high levels of exciton population can be obtained for a wide range of interparticle distances and for short pulse durations. This behavior appears also to be robust against small positioning errors of the system. The fidelity of the population inversion degrades for smaller distances and longer pulses, as the nonlinear terms in the equations, expressing the quantum dot–metal nanoparticle interaction, become stronger and affect the evolution for longer times. The present work is expected to help schemes toward the generation of single photons on demand or ultrafast nanoswitches, where the controlled population inversion in semiconductor quantum dots coupled to metal nanoparticles is an important task.

We demonstrate a new method to realize the population inversion of a single InGaAs=GaAs quantum dot excited by a laser pulse tuned within the neutral exciton phonon sideband.In contrast to the conventional method of inverting a two-level system by performing coherent Rabi oscillation, the inversion is achieved by rapid thermalization of the optically dressed states via incoherent phonon-assisted relaxation.A maximum exciton population of 0.67 Æ 0.06 is measured for a laser tuned 0.83 meV to higher energy.Furthermore, the phonon sideband is mapped using a two-color pump-probe technique, with its spectral form and magnitude in very good agreement with the result of path-integral calculations.

Motivated by recent experimental results, we present a detailed account of adiabatic population transfer in InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots by strong chirped laser pulses. Specifically, numerical simulations in very good agreement with experimental results allow for a clear physical picture of this process. An analytical expression is developed, which is used to analyze the strong-field adiabatic population transfer in the presence of the phonon environment. Optimal pulse parameters to achieve robust population transfer at temperatures as high as 80 K are identified and are confirmed by numerical simulations.