Abstract
Progress in submicron technology makes it possible to realize man-made low-dimensional electronic systems with quantum confined energy states, i.e., quantum wires and quantum dots. In this review we will address experiments where we approach the quantum limit, i.e., quantum dots with small numbers of electrons per dot. We have prepared arrays of field-effect confined quantum dots with diameters smaller than 100 nm starting from AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs heterostructures. In far-infrared spectroscopy, we observe discrete steps in the gate voltage dependence of the integrated absorption strength indicating directly the incremental occupation of each dot with N = 1, 2, 3, and 4 electrons. From the experiments we can deduce that this discrete number is stabilized by the high Coulomb charging energy of about 15 meV in the very small dots. With this well defined small number of electrons per dot, it becomes possible to perform a kind of ‘atomic’ spectroscopy on these systems. We will show that the dynamic excitations exhibit an interesting complex interplay of atomic-like single-particle and collective many-body effects.
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© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Heitmann, D., Meurer, B., Ploog, K. (1993). Spectroscopy of Quantum-Dot Atoms. In: Lockwood, D.J., Pinczuk, A. (eds) Optical Phenomena in Semiconductor Structures of Reduced Dimensions. NATO ASI Series, vol 248. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1912-2_30
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1912-2_30
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