Semiconductor Quantum Dots presents an overview of the background and recent developments in the rapidly growing field of ultrasmall semiconductor microcrystallites, in which the carrier confinement is sufficiently strong to allow only quantized states of the electrons and holes. The main emphasis of this book is the theoretical analysis of the confinement induced modifications of the optical and electronic properties of quantum dots in comparison with extended materials. The book develops the theoretical background material for the analysis of carrier quantum-confinement effects, introduces the different confinement regimes for relative or center-of-mass motion quantization of the electron-hole-pairs, and gives an overview of the best approximation schemes for each regime. A detailed discussion of the carrier states in quantum dots is presented and surface polarization instabilities are analyzed, leading to the self-trapping of carriers near the surface of the dots. The influence of spin-orbit coupling on the quantum-confined carrier states is discussed. The linear and nonlinear optical properties of small and large quantum dots are studied in detail and the influence of the quantum-dot size distribution in many realistic samples is outlined. Phonons in quantum dots as well as the influence of external electric or magnetic fields are also discussed. Last but not least the recent developments dealing with regular systems of quantum dots are also reviewed. All things included, this is an important piece of work on semiconductor quantum dots not to be dismissed by serious researchers and physicists.

Semiconductor structures containing zero-dimensional objects — quantum dots — are the subject of intensive research worldwide. This monograph describes a detailed theory of the electronic band structure and optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots.The author provides a comprehensive description of an original approach based on a combination of the Fourier transform, the Green's function and plane-wave expansion techniques in the framework of multiband 8x8 kp theory. The calculated band structure, optical properties and device applications are analyzed in line with available experiments for a large number of realistic quantum dot structures and various combinations of materials, such as InGaN, GaN/AlN, ZnSe, InGaAs (including dots-in-the-well), ZnSe/CdSe, and lead salts.

Semiconductor quantum dots represent one of the fields of solid state physics that have experienced the greatest progress in the last decade. Recent years have witnessed the discovery of many striking new aspects of the optical response and electronic transport phenomena. This book surveys this progress in the physics, optical spectroscopy and application-oriented research of semiconductor quantum dots. It focuses especially on excitons, multi-excitons, their dynamical relaxation behaviour and their interactions with the surroundings of a semiconductor quantum dot. Recent developments in fabrication techniques are reviewed and potential applications discussed. This book will serve not only as an introductory textbook for graduate students but also as a concise guide for active researchers.

This book presents an overview of the current understanding of the physics of zero-dimensional semiconductors. It concentrates mainly on quantum dots of wide-gap semiconductors, but touches also on zero-dimensional systems based on silicon and III-V materials. After providing the reader with a theoretical background, the author illustrates the specific properties of three-dimensionally confined semiconductors, such as the size dependence of energy states, optical transitions, and dephasing mechanisms with the results from numerous experiments in linear and nonlinear spectroscopy. Technological concepts of the growth concepts and the potential of this new class of semiconductor materials for electro-optic and nonlinear optical devices are also discussed.

This textbook presents the basic elements needed to understand and engage in research in semiconductor physics. It deals with elementary excitations in bulk and low-dimensional semiconductors, including quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum dots. The basic principles underlying optical nonlinearities are developed, including excitonic and many-body plasma effects. The fundamentals of optical bistability, semiconductor lasers, femtosecond excitation, optical Stark effect, semiconductor photon echo, magneto-optic effects, as well as bulk and quantum-confined Franz-Keldysh effects are covered. The material is presented in sufficient detail for graduate students and researchers who have a general background in quantum mechanics. Request Inspection Copy

Semiconductor nanostructures are attracting a great deal of interest as the most promising device with which to implement quantum information processing and quantum computing. This book surveys the present status of nanofabrication techniques, near field spectroscopy and microscopy to assist the fabricated nanostructures. It will be essential reading for academic and industrial researchers in pure and applied physics, optics, semiconductors and microelectronics. - The first up-to-date review articles on various aspects on quantum coherence, correlation and decoherence in semiconductor nanostructures

This book highlights the most recent developments in quantum dot spin physics and the generation of deterministic superior non-classical light states with quantum dots. In particular, it addresses single quantum dot spin manipulation, spin-photon entanglement and the generation of single-photon and entangled photon pair states with nearly ideal properties. The role of semiconductor microcavities, nanophotonic interfaces as well as quantum photonic integrated circuits is emphasized. The latest theoretical and experimental studies of phonon-dressed light matter interaction, single-dot lasing and resonance fluorescence in QD cavity systems are also provided. The book is written by the leading experts in the field.