Das gitterfehlangepaßte Kristallwachstum führt unter bestimmten Bedingungen zu einem 3-D Wachstumsmodus, der oft Stranski-Krastanow-Wachstum genannt wird. Resultierende Strukturgrößen liegen in der Größenordnung 10 nm und die Halbleiterstrukturen besitzen daher Quanteneigenschaften. Sie stehen im Fokus grundlagenwissenschaftlichen Interesses, da künstliche Atome und Dimensionalitätseffekte an ihnen untersucht werden können. Auch von der Anwendungsseite wächst das Interesse, da niederdimensionale Strukturen hoher Kristallqualität und mit hoher gestalterischer Freiheit geschaffen werden können. In dieser Arbeit wurden Mischhalbleiter-Heterostrukturen der Dimensionalität d= 0,1 und 2 mittels Gasphasen-MBE hergestellt. Ziel war eine Korrelation der strukturellen mit den elektronischen und optischen Eigenschaften. Selbstformierende Quantendrähte und Quantenpunkte in leitfähigen Kanälen wurden in ihrem Einfluß auf den lateralen Transport untersucht. Weiterhin wird dargestellt, wie zusätzliche, durch Quantenpunkte induzierte Oberflächenzustände eine deutliche Verschiebung der Energie des Oberflächen-Ferminiveau-Pinning einer (100)-GaAs-Oberfläche verursachen. Der senkrechte Elektronentransport durch Quantenpunkte dient der Untersuchung von Dot-induzierten, tiefen elektronischen Zuständen und der Erklärung eines eindimensionalen Modells elektronischer Kopplung zwischen denselben. Zusätzlich führen uns die Ergebnisse optischer Messungen zu einem besseren Verständnis des Vorgangs der Dotformierung und der elektronischen Kopplung zwischen zufällig verteilten Quantenpunkten. / The lattice-mismatched epitaxial growth is known to induce a three-dimensional growth mode often referred to as Stranski-Krastanov growth. The resulting structures have typical sizes of 10 nm and possess quantum properties, which are of fundamental physical interest, since artificial atoms and dimensionality effects can be studied. There is a growing interest from an applicational point of view also, since low dimensional structures of a high crystal quality and of a high degree of designerabillity can be created. In this work such structures of a dimensionality d=0,1 and 2 based on compound semiconductors have been designed and prepared by molecular beam epitaxy to perform comparative studies with respect to their electronic, structural and optical properties. Self assembled quantum wires and dots in conductive channels have been examined according to their influence on lateral electrical transport. It is demonstrated how additional surface states from quantum dots cause a distinct shift in the Surface Fermi-level of a GaAs (100) surface. Vertical transport through dots is used to support a model of one-dimensional coupling between deep states induced by the dots. Additionally, optical investigations let us attain a better understanding of the process of dot formation and the electronic coupling between the randomly distributed dots.

In dieser Arbeit werden erstmals die nichtlinearen optischen Eigenschaften einzelner Halbleiterquantenpunkte mit Femtosekunden-Zeitauflösung untersucht und dargestellt. Insbesondere die Besetzungs- und Polarisationsdynamik eines einzelnen Halbleiterquantenpunkts wird diskutiert. Zur Durchführung der Experimente wird eine neuartige Messmethode entwickelt und eingesetzt: die Femtosekunden-Nahfeldspektroskopie. Die Kombination aus fs-Anrege-Abtast-Spektroskopie und optischer Nahfeldspektroskopie ermöglicht es, die nichtlinearen optischen Eigenschaften eines einzelnen Quantenpunkts mit hoher räumlicher, temporaler und spektraler Auflösung bei Temperaturen von 10 K bis 300 K zu untersuchen. Das zu diesem Zweck weiter entwickelte optische Nahfeldmikroskop bietet eine hohe räumliche Auflösung von bis zu 150 nm. Die Einführung einer neuartigen optischen Abstandsregelkontrolle sichert identische experimentelle Bedingungen über zahlreiche Stunden, ohne daß mechanische Wechselwirkungen zwischen den untersuchten Strukturen und dem apparativen Aufbau die Ergebnisse negativ beeinflussen. Durch die Kombination dieses Nahfeldmikroskops mit einem klassischen fs-Anrege-Abtast-Aufbau können die nichtlineare optische Eigenschaften einzelner Quantenpunkte mit einer Zeitauflösung von bis zu 150 fs untersucht werden. Zur Charakterisierung der Mehrfachquantenfilmprobe werden die linearen optischen Eigenschaften einzelner Interface Quantenpunkte mit Hilfe der stationären Methoden der Photolumineszenzspektroskopie und Photolumineszenz-Autokorrelationsspektroskopie untersucht und analysiert. Dadurch bietet sich die Möglichkeit der gezielten Untersuchung der räumlichen Statistik lokalisierter Zustände. Einblick in die räumliche Unordnung des zugrundeliegenden Potentialverlaufs kann gewonnen werden. In PL-Emission wird der Übergang von homogen verbreiterten Emissionslinien dicker Quantenfilme in ein inhomogen verbreitertes Emissionsspektrum bei gleichzeitiger Beobachtung spektral scharfer Emissionslinien einzelner lokalisierter Exzitonenresonanzen mit Abnahme der Filmdicke beobachtet. In PL-Autokorrelationsexperimenten wird ein zweites ausgeprägtes Korrelationsmaximum beobachtet. Dieses wird einem angeregten lokalisierten und optisch aktiven Zustand zugeschrieben. Die beobachtete Energiedifferenz zwischen Exzitonengrundzustand und dem beobachteten angeregten Zustand ermöglicht eine Abschätzung des Dipolmoment zu 40-50D und der Ausdehnung von Quantenpunkte von ca. 50nm. Zeitaufgelöste Untersuchungen an interface Quantenpunkten werden mit einer spektralen Auflösung von 60 µeV in Reflexionsgeometrie durchgeführt. Diese gestatten zum einen die Bestimmung der Lebensdauer und Dipolmomente lokalisierter Exzitonenzustände. Zum anderen ist eine nahezu vollständige Rekonstruktion der Polarisationsdynamik nach optischer Anregung möglich. Grossen Einfluss auf die spektrale Form der detektierten Reflektivitätsänderung besitzt die Tiefe unter der ein Quantenpunkt unter der Oberfläche vergraben ist. Diese Tiefenabhängigkeit wird in dieser Arbeit genauer untersucht und analysiert. Weiterhin wird erstmals die Polarisationsdynamik in einem einzelnen Quantenpunkt mit fs-Zeitauflösung untersucht und analysiert. Wird die durch den Abtastimpuls getriebene Polarisation nicht durch Wechselwirkung mit einem zweiten Impuls gestört, wird eine exponentielle zeitliche Abnahme der Polarisation mit der durch die homogenen Linienbreite bestimmten Dephasierungszeit ermittelt. Vielteilchenwechselwirkung nach nichtresonanter Anregung mit einem Anregeimpuls führt zur Änderung der Polarisationsdynamik lokalisierter Zustände und zur Beobachtung nichtverschwindender Reflektivitätsänderungen zu negativen Verzögerungszeiten. Als dominanter Mechanismus der in den zeitaufgelösten Experimenten vorherrschenden Vielteilchenwechselwirkung wird ein anregungsinduziertes Dephasieren nachgewiesen. / In this thesis the first study of nonlinear optical properties of single Quantum Dots with femtosecond time resolution is presented. Especially the population and polarization dynamics in a single semiconductor quantum dot will be discussed. To achieve this goal a new experimental technology is developed, giving the possibility to investigate the temporal dynamics of a single quantum dot within a temperature range between 10 and 300 K. Hereby the combination of a standard pump-probe setup with a near-field microscope for variable temperatures allows highest temporal, spectral and spatial resolution of up to 100 fs, 60 ueV and 150 nm respectively. The introduction of a new optical distance control enables the investigation of nonlinear optical properties of a single quantum dot in reflection geometry without any restrictions due to masking or stress effects. In first experiments the linear optical properties of single interface Quantum Dots in the multiple quantum well structure is characterized and analyzed via PL- and PL-autocorrelation spectroscopy. Knowledge of the spatial statistics of localized states can be gained. Insight into correlation of the underlying disorder potential is achieved. By investigating different quantum wells the crossover from a homogeneous broadened emission spectra of thick quantum films to an inhomogeneous broadened emission spectra is observed accompanied by the occurrence of sharp emission peaks from localized excitons. In PL-Autocorrelation experiments a second pronounced correlation maximum is observed. This correlation maximum can be explained by a localized excited and optical active resonance in a single quantum dot. The energy difference between the localized ground state and the first excited state of about 3 meV allows a rough estimate of underlying dipole moments to 40-50 D and the extent of isolated quantum dots to 50 nm. Time resolved experiments on interface quantum dots are performed with a spectral resolution of 60 µeV in reflection geometry, allowing on one hand the determination of population life times and dipole moments of localized exciton states. On the other hand a nearly complete reconstruction of the polarization dynamics is possible. Large influence on spectral shape of the reflectivity change is given by the distance between interface quantum dots and the sample surface. This burying depth dependence will discussed and analyzed in detail within this thesis. Moreover polarization dynamics in a single quantum dot is investigated with fs-resolution. If the polarization driven by the probe pulse is not disturbed by a second light pulse, an exponential decay of the polarization amplitude with an decay time determined by the homogeneous line width is observed. Many body interaction after excitation by a non-resonant pump-pulse causes changes in the polarization dynamics of localized states at negative delay times. As prominent mechanism of many-body interactions governing the experiments an excitation induced dephasing will be determined.

Aujourd'hui, nos appareils électroniques sont de plus en plus densément composés de composants nanoélectroniques. En conséquence, la dissipation de chaleur produite dans ces circuits augmente également énormément, provoquant une déperdition d’énergie considérable, en pure perte. Les effets thermoélectriques entrent en jeu ici car ils permettent d'utiliser cette chaleur perdue pour produire un travail utile. Par conséquent, l’étude du transport thermique et de l’effet thermoélectrique dans les nanostructures revêt une importance significative du point de vue scientifique et technologique.Dans cette thèse, nous présentons nos études expérimentales du transport thermique et thermoélectrique dans différents types de dispositifs à un seul électron, où le flux électronique peut être contrôlé au niveau de l'électron unique.Tout d’abord, nous montrons la mesure du transport de chaleur contrôlé par la grille dans un transistor à un seul électron (SET), agissant comme un commutateur thermique entre deux réservoirs. Nous déterminons la conductance thermique à l’aide d’un bilan thermique en régime permanent prenant en compte les différents chemins du flux de chaleur. La comparaison de la conductance thermique du SET avec sa conductance électrique indique une forte violation de la loi de Wiedemann-Franz.Deuxièmement, nous étendons l’étude du transport thermique dans les dispositifs à un seul électron dans le régime de boîte quantique, où, outre les interactions de Coulomb, il faut également prendre en compte les différents niveaux électroniques discrets. Nous discutons du bilan thermique entre deux réservoirs de chaleur couplés par un seul niveau de point quantique, et de la dissipation des électrons tunnel dans les contacts. Cela produit des formes de diamant de Coulomb dans la carte de température électronique de la source, en fonction de la polarisation et de la tension de grille.Enfin, nous présentons la mesure du transport thermoélectrique dans une jonction à boîte quantique unique, du régime de couplage faible au régime de couplage fort Kondo. Nos expériences introduisent une nouvelle façon de mesurer le pouvoir thermoélectrique en réalisant une condition de circuit ouvert quasi-parfaite. Le pouvoir thermoélectrique dans une boîte faiblement couplée montre le comportement e-périodique avec la charge induite par la grille, alors qu’il montre une période distincte de 2e en présence de corrélation Kondo. L’étude de la dépendance thermique révèle que la résonance de Kondo n’est pas toujours au niveau de Fermi, mais qu’elle peut être légèrement décalée, en accord avec les prédictions théoriques.Cette étude ouvre la porte à l’étude de transistors à une boîte quantique unique dont les propriétés thermodynamiques sont régies par les lois de thermodynamique quantique. / At this age of technologically advanced world, the electronic devices are getting more and more densely packed with micro-electronic elements of nano-scale dimension. As a result the heat dissipation produced in these microelectronic-circuits is also increasing immensely, causing a huge amount of energy loss without any use. The textit{thermoelectric effects} come into play here as one can use this wasted heat to produce some useful work with the help of thermoelectric conversion. In order to achieve such a textit{heat engine} with a reasonably high efficiency, one needs to understand its thermal behavior at the basic level. Therefore, the study of thermal transport and thermoelectric effect in nano-structures has significant importance both from scientific and application point of view.In this thesis we present the experimental studies of thermal and thermoelectric transport in different kinds of single-electron devices, where the electronic flow can be controlled at the single electron level.First, we demonstrate the measurement of gate-controlled heat transport in a Single-Electron Transistor ($SET$), acting as a heat switch between two heat reservoirs. The measurement of temperature of the leads of the $SET$ allows us to determine its thermal conductance with the help of a steady state heat-balance among all possible paths of heat flow. The comparison of thermal conductance of the $SET$ with its electrical conductance indicates a strong violation of the Wiedemann-Franz (WF) law away from the charge degeneracy.Second, we extend the study of thermal transport in single-electron devices to the quantum limit, where in addition to the Coulomb interactions the quantum effects are also need to be taken into account, and therefore the individual discrete electronic levels take part in the transport process. We discuss the heat-balance between two heat reservoirs, coupled through a single Quantum-Dot ($QD$) level, and the dissipation of the tunneling electrons on the leads. This produces Coulomb-diamond shapes in the electronic-temperature map of the `source' lead, as a function of bias and gate voltage.Third, we present the measurement of thermoelectric transport in a single $QD$ junction, starting from the weak coupling regime to the strong coupling-Kondo regime. The experiments introduces a new way of measuring thermovoltage realizing a close to perfect open-circuit condition. The thermopower in a weakly coupled $QD$ shows an expected `$e$' periodic behavior with the gate-induced charge, while it shows a distinct `$2e$' periodic feature in the presence of Kondo spin-correlation. The temperature dependence study of the Kondo-correlated thermopower reveals the fact that the Kondo-resonance is not always pinned to the Fermi level of the leads but it can be slightly off, in agreement with the theoretical predictions.This study opens the door for accessing a single $QD$ junction to operate it as a $QD$-heat engine, where the thermodynamic properties of the device are governed by the laws of textit{quantum thermodynamics}.

Nós calculamos o efeito da interação elétron-fonons longitudinais óticos (LO) sobre a energia de transição ls &#8594 2p+ entre os níveis de uma impureza doadora, localizada em um poço quântico de GaAs-AlxGa1-xAs. Nossos resultados para a energia de transição em função do campo magnético aplicado mostram claramente, que a saturação da energia de transição (efeito pinning) ocorre na energia dos fônons LO, em boa concordância com recentes dados experimentais. Obtemos também a massa de cíclotron de polarons confinados em fios quânticos quase-unidimensionais, com potencial de confinamento parabólico. Observamos que o comportamento da massa é diferente daquele para sistemas bi-dimensionais e que esta diferença é maior quanto maior o potencial de confinamento. Para a heterojunção de GaAs-AlGaAs e GaAs-GaSb, investigamos a importância da interação elétron-fonons interfaciais sobre a massa de cíclotron. Verificamos que a contribuição dos fonons interfaciais é fundamental nas regiões próximas às resonâncias, onde domina o espectro. Finalmente, calculamos a energia de ligação de uma impureza hidrogenóide, localizada no centro de um ponto quântico circular de GaAs-AlGaAs. Na ausência de campo magnético aplicado, obtivemos uma expressão analítica para a função de onda do elétron ligado. Notamos, que a influência do campo magnético sobre a energia de ligação é fraca nas regiões de pequenos raios, devido ao forte potencial de confinamento. / We calculate the effects of the electron-longitudinal optical (LO) phonons interaction on the intra donor ls &#8594 2p+ transition energy in GaAs-AlGaAs quantum wells structures. Our results to the transition energy as a function of the magnetic Field strength, show that the pinning effect occur in the phonon LO energy in good agreement with recent experimental data. The cyclotron mass of polarons confined in quasi.one.dimensional quantum-well wires with parabolic confinement potential, is also obtained. The behavior of electrons effective mass with magnetic field is different, of the two-dimensional systems, and the difference increase when the confinement potential increase. To heterojunctions of GaAs-AlAs and GaAs-GaSb, we investigate the electroninterfacials optical (IO) phonons interactions on the effective cyclotron mass. We find that the electron-IO-phonons interaction is fundamental near the resonances, where they dominate the spectra. Finally, the ground state binding energy of donor impurity, placed in the center of a circular quantum dot is calculated. Without magnetic field, we obtained the analytic expression to the bound electron wave function. The influence of the magnetic field on the donor binding energy is weaker, when the radius of the quantum dot became smaller.

<p>We consider a system of few electrons trapped in a two-dimensional circularquantum dot with harmonic confinement and in the presence of ahomogeneous magnetic field, with focus on the role of e-e interaction. Byperforming the exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian in second quantization,the low-lying energy levels for spin polarized system are obtained. The singlet-triplet oscillation in the ground state of the two-electron system showing up inthe result is explained due to the role of Coulomb interaction. The splitting ofthe lowest Landau level is another effect of the e-e interaction, which is alsoobserved in the results.</p>

The work presented in this thesis deals with optical studies of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) in the InGaAs material system. It is shown that for self-assembled InAs QDs, the interaction with the surrounding GaAs barrier and the InAs wetting layer (WL) in particular, has a very large impact on their optical properties. The ability to control the charge state of individual QDs is demonstrated and attributed to a modulation in the carrier transport dynamics in the WL. After photo-excitation of carriers (electrons and holes) in the barrier, they will migrate in the sample and with a certain probability become captured into a QD. During this migration, the carriers can be affected by exerting them to an external magnetic field or by altering the temperature. An external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the carrier transport direction will lead to a decrease in the carrier drift velocity since their trajectories are bent, and at sufficiently high field strength become circular. In turn, this decreases the probability for the carriers to reach the QD since the probability for the carriers to get trapped in WL localizing potentials increases. An elevated temperature leads to an increased escape rate out of these potentials and again increases the flow of carriers towards the QD. These effects have significantly different strengths for electrons and holes due to the large difference in their respective masses and therefore it constitutes a way to control the supply of charges to the QD. Another effect of the different capture probabilities for electrons and holes into a QD that is explored is the ability to achieve spin polarization of the neutral exciton (X0). It has been concluded frequently in the literature that X0 cannot maintain its spin without application of an external magnetic field, due to the anisotropic electron – hole exchange interaction (AEI). In our studies, we show that at certain excitation conditions, the AEI can be by-passed since an electron is captured faster than a hole into a QD. The result is that the electron will populate the QD solely for a certain time window, before the hole is captured. During this time window and at polarized excitation, which creates spin polarized carriers, the electron can polarize the QD nuclei. In this way, a nuclear magnetic field is built up with a magnitude as high as ~ 1.5 T. This field will stabilize the X0 spin in a similar manner as an external magnetic field would. The build-up time for this nuclear field was determined to be ~ 10 ms and the polarization degree achieved for X0 is ~ 60 %. In contrast to the case of X0, the AEI is naturally cancelled for the negatively charged exciton (X-) and the positively charged exciton (X+) complexes. This is due to the fact that the electron (hole) spin is paired off in case of X- (X+).  Accordingly, an even higher polarization degree (~ 73 %) is measured for the positively charged exciton. In a different study, pyramidal QD structures were employed. In contrast to fabrication of self-assembled QDs, the position of QDs can be controlled in these samples as they are grown in inverted pyramids that are etched into a substrate. After sample processing, the result is free-standing AlGaAs pyramids with InGaAs QDs inside. Due to the pyramidal shape of these structures, the light extraction is considerably enhanced which opens up possibilities to study processes un-resolvable in self-assembled QDs. This has allowed studies of Auger-like shake-up processes of holes in single QDs. Normally, after radiative recombination of X+, the QD is populated with a ground state hole. However, at recombination, a fraction of the energy can be transferred to the hole so that it afterwards occupies an excited state instead. This process is detected experimentally as a red-shifted luminescence satellite peak with an intensity on the order of ~ 1/1000 of the main X+ peak intensity. The identification of the satellite peak is based on its intensity correlation with the X+ peak, photoluminescence excitation measurements and on magnetic field measurements. / Arbetet som presenteras i denna avhandling rör studier av kvantprickars optiska egenskaper. En kvantprick är en halvledarkristall som endast är några tiotals nanometer stor. Den ligger oftast inbäddad inuti en större kristall av ett annat halvledarmaterial och pga. den begränsade storleken får en kvantprick mycket speciella egenskaper. Bland annat så kommer elektronerna i en kvantprick endast att kunna anta vissa diskreta energinivåer liknande situationen för elektronerna i en atom. Följaktligen kallas kvantprickar ofta för artificiella atomer. För halvledarmaterial gäller det generellt att det inte endast är fria elektroner i ledningsbandet, som kan leda ström utan även tomma elektrontillstånd i valens­bandet, vilka uppträder som positivt laddade partiklar, kan leda ström. Dessa kallas kort och gott för hål. I en kvantprick har hålen såsom elektronerna helt diskreta energinivåer. Precis som är fallet i en atom, så kommer elektroniska övergångar mellan olika energi­nivåer i en kvantprick att resultera i att ljus emitteras. Energin (dvs. våglängden alt. färgen) för detta ljus bestäms av hur energinivåerna i kvant­pricken ligger, för elektronerna och hålen, och genom att analysera ljuset kan man således studera kvantprickens egenskaper. Studierna i den här avhandlingen visar att växelverkan mellan en kvantprick och den omgivande kristallen, som den ligger inbäddad i, har stor inverkan på kvantprickens optiska egenskaper. T.ex. visas att man kan kontrollera antalet elektroner, som kommer att finnas i kvantpricken genom att modifiera hur elektronerna kan röra sig i omgivningen. Dessa rörelser modifieras här genom att variera temperaturen och genom att lägga på ett magnetiskt fält. Ett magnetiskt fält, vinkelrätt mot en elektrons rörelse, kommer att böja av dess bana och dess chans att nå fram till kvantpricken kan således minskas. Elektronen kan då istället fastna i andra potentialgropar i kvantprickens närhet. Genom att öka temperaturen, vilket ger elektronerna större energi, kan deras chans att nå fram till kvantpricken å andra sidan öka. En annan effekt, som studerats, är möjligheten att kontrollera spinnet hos elektronerna i en kvantprick. Även i dessa studier visar det sig att växelverkan med omgivningen spelar stor roll och kan användas till att kontrollera elektronens spin. Mekanismen som föreslås är att om elektronerna hinner före hålen till kvantpricken, så hinner de överföra sitt spin till atomkärnorna i kvantpricken. På detta sätt kan man få atomkärnornas spin polariserat, vilket resulterar i ett inbyggt magnetfält, i storleksordningen 1.5 Tesla, som i sin tur hjälper till att upprätthålla en hög grad av spinpolarisering även hos elektronerna. För att få elektronerna att hinna först, måste deras rörelser i omgivningen kontrolleras. I en ytterligare studie undersöktes den process där en elektronisk övergång i kvantpricken inte enbart resulterar i emission av ljus, utan även i att en annan partikel tar över en del av energin och blir exciterad. Dessa processer avspeglas i att en del av det ljus som emitteras har lägre energi. Detta ljus är också mycket svagt, ca 1000 ggr lägre intensitet, och möjligheten att kunna mäta detta är helt beroende på hur ljusstarka kvantprickarna är. De prover som använts i denna studie består av pyramidstrukturer, ca 7.5 mikrometer stora, med kvantprickar inuti. Denna geometri ger ca 1000 ggr bättre ljusutbyte jämfört med traditionella strukturer, vilket möjliggjort studien.

This thesis reports an experimental characterization of the ultrafast gain and refractive index dynamics of a novel InAs/InGaAsP/InP quantum-dot (QD) semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) operating near 1.55-µm wavelengths, assessing its high-speed performance characteristics for the first time. The thesis also studies the influence of the degree of quantum confinement on the dynamics of SOAs by comparing the zero-dimensional (0-D) QD's dynamics to those in 1-D InAs/InAlGaAs/InP quantum-dash (QDash), and 2-D InGaAsP/InGaAsP/InP quantum-well (QW) SOAs, both of which also operate near 1.55-µm wavelengths, and are made with matching or similar materials and structures. The ultrafast (around 1 ps) and long-lived (up to 2 ns) amplitude and phase dynamics of the SOAs are characterized via advanced heterodyne pump-probe measurements with 150-femtosecond resolution. It is found that the QD SOA has an 80-picosecond amplitude, and 110-picosecond phase recovery lifetime in the gain regime, 4-6 times faster than the QDash and QW recovery lifetimes, as well as reduced ultrafast transients, giving it the best properties for high-speed (> 100 Gb/s) all-optical signal processing in the important telecommunications wavelength bands. An impulse response model is developed and used to analyze the dynamics, facilitating a comparison of the gain compression factors, time-resolved linewidth enhancement factors (alpha-factors), and instantaneous dynamic coefficients (two-photon absorption and nonlinear refractive-index coefficients) amongst the three structures. The quantum-dot device is found to have the lowest effective alpha-factor, 2-10, compared to 8-16 in the QW, as well as time-resolved alpha-factors lower than in the QW—promising for reduced-phase-transient operation at high bitrates. Significant differences in the alpha-factors of lasers with the same structure are found, due to the differences between gain changes that are induced optically or through the electrical bias. The relative contributions of stimulated transitions and free-carrier absorption to the total carrier heating dynamics in SOAs of varying dimensionality are also reported for the first time. Examining the QD electroluminescence and linear gain spectra in combination with the carrier dynamics also brings about conclusions on the nature of the quantum confinement, dot energy-level structure, and density of states—aspects of the material that have not been previously well understood.

This thesis reports an experimental characterization of the ultrafast gain and refractive index dynamics of a novel InAs/InGaAsP/InP quantum-dot (QD) semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) operating near 1.55-µm wavelengths, assessing its high-speed performance characteristics for the first time. The thesis also studies the influence of the degree of quantum confinement on the dynamics of SOAs by comparing the zero-dimensional (0-D) QD's dynamics to those in 1-D InAs/InAlGaAs/InP quantum-dash (QDash), and 2-D InGaAsP/InGaAsP/InP quantum-well (QW) SOAs, both of which also operate near 1.55-µm wavelengths, and are made with matching or similar materials and structures. The ultrafast (around 1 ps) and long-lived (up to 2 ns) amplitude and phase dynamics of the SOAs are characterized via advanced heterodyne pump-probe measurements with 150-femtosecond resolution. It is found that the QD SOA has an 80-picosecond amplitude, and 110-picosecond phase recovery lifetime in the gain regime, 4-6 times faster than the QDash and QW recovery lifetimes, as well as reduced ultrafast transients, giving it the best properties for high-speed (> 100 Gb/s) all-optical signal processing in the important telecommunications wavelength bands. An impulse response model is developed and used to analyze the dynamics, facilitating a comparison of the gain compression factors, time-resolved linewidth enhancement factors (alpha-factors), and instantaneous dynamic coefficients (two-photon absorption and nonlinear refractive-index coefficients) amongst the three structures. The quantum-dot device is found to have the lowest effective alpha-factor, 2-10, compared to 8-16 in the QW, as well as time-resolved alpha-factors lower than in the QW—promising for reduced-phase-transient operation at high bitrates. Significant differences in the alpha-factors of lasers with the same structure are found, due to the differences between gain changes that are induced optically or through the electrical bias. The relative contributions of stimulated transitions and free-carrier absorption to the total carrier heating dynamics in SOAs of varying dimensionality are also reported for the first time. Examining the QD electroluminescence and linear gain spectra in combination with the carrier dynamics also brings about conclusions on the nature of the quantum confinement, dot energy-level structure, and density of states—aspects of the material that have not been previously well understood.

This work describes infrared (IR) photon detector techniques based on novel semiconductor device concepts and detector designs. The aim of the investigation was to examine alternative IR detection concepts with a view to resolve some of the issues of existing IR detectors such as operating temperature and response range. Systems were fabricated to demonstrate the following IR detection concepts and determine detector parameters: (i) Near-infrared (NIR) detection based on dye-sensitization of nanostructured semiconductors, (ii) Displacement currents in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) embedded dielectric media, (iii) Split-off band transitions in GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HEIWIP) detectors. A far-infrared detector based on GaSb homojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HIWIP) structure is also discussed. Device concepts, detector structures, and experimental results discussed in the text are summarized below. Dye-sensitized (DS) detector structures consisting of n-TiO2/Dye/p-CuSCN heterostructures with several IR-sensitive dyes showed response peaks at 808, 812, 858, 866, 876, and 1056 nm at room temperature. The peak specific detectivity (D*) was 9.5E+10 Jones at 812 nm at room temperature. Radiation induced carrier generation alters the electronic polarizability of QDs provided the quenching of excitation is suppressed by separation of the QDs. A device constructed to illustrate this concept by embedding PbS QDs in paraffin wax showed a peak D* of 3E+8 Jones at ~540 nm at ambient temperature. A typical HEIWIP/HIWIP detector structures consist of single (or multiple) period(s) of doped emitter(s) and undoped barrier(s) which are sandwiched between two highly doped contact layers. A p-GaAs/AlGaAs HEIWIP structure showed enhanced absorption in NIR range due to heavy/light-hole band to split-off band transitions and leading to the development of GaAs based uncooled sensors for IR detection in the 2 5 μm wavelength range with a peak D* of 6.8E+5 Jones. A HIWIP detector based on p-GaSb/GaSb showed a free carrier response threshold wavelength at 97 µm (~3 THz)with a peak D* of 5.7E+11 Jones at 36 μm and 4.9 K. In this detector, a bolometric type response in the 97 - 200 µm (3-1.5 THz) range was also observed.

We consider a system of few electrons trapped in a two-dimensional circularquantum dot with harmonic confinement and in the presence of ahomogeneous magnetic field, with focus on the role of e-e interaction. Byperforming the exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian in second quantization,the low-lying energy levels for spin polarized system are obtained. The singlet-triplet oscillation in the ground state of the two-electron system showing up inthe result is explained due to the role of Coulomb interaction. The splitting ofthe lowest Landau level is another effect of the e-e interaction, which is alsoobserved in the results.