We consider light scattering from a new type of model particle whose shape is represented in the form of a generalized ellipsoid having N foci, where N is greater than two. Such particles can be convex as well as concave. We use the geometrical optics approximation to study the light scattering from 3-foci particles. Non-zero elements of the scattering matrix are calculated for ensembles of randomly oriented independent transparent particles, m = n + i0. Several internal reflection orders are considered separately. It was found that the transmission-transmission (TT) and transmission-reflectance-transmission (TRT) components dominate in the formation of intensity of scattered light at large and small phase angles, respectively. We found a significant role of the total internal reflections of the TRT in the middle portion of the phase angle range. The main factors in the formation of positive linear polarization are the R and TRT component. The TT component is responsible for the formation of negative polarization branch at large phase angles.

A rectangular dielectric strip at some distance above an optical slab waveguide is being considered, for evanescent excitation of the strip through the semi-guided waves supported by the slab, at specific oblique angles. The 2.5-D configuration shows resonant transmission properties with respect to variations of the angle of incidence, or of the excitation frequency, respectively. The strength of the interaction can be controlled by the gap between strip and slab. For increasing distance, our simulations predict resonant states with unit extremal reflectance of an angular or spectral width that tends to zero, i.e. resonances with a Q-factor that tends to infinity, while the resonance position approaches the level of the guided mode of the strip. This exceptionally simple system realizes what might be termed a “bound state coupled to the continuum”.

We investigate optical microresonators consisting of either one or two coupled rectangular strips between upper and lower slab waveguides. The cavities are evanescently excited under oblique angles by thin-film guided, in-plane unguided waves supported by one of the slab waveguides. Beyond a specific incidence angle, losses are fully suppressed. The interaction between the guided mode of the cavity-strip and the incoming slab modes leads to resonant behavior for specific incidence angles and gaps. For a single cavity, at resonance, the input power is equally split among each of the four output ports, while for two cavities an add-drop filter can be realized that, at resonance, routes the incoming power completely to the forward drop waveguide via the cavity. For both applications, the strength of the interaction is controlled by the gaps between cavities and waveguides.

Metal nanoparticles host localized plasmon excitations that allow the manipulation of optical fields at the nanoscale. Despite the availability of several techniques for imaging plasmons, direct access into the symmetries of these excitations remains elusive, thus hindering progress in the development of applications. Here, we present a combination of angle-, polarization-, and space-resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy methods to selectively access the symmetry and degeneracy of plasmonic states in lithographically fabricated gold nanoprisms. We experimentally reveal and spatially map degenerate states of multipole plasmon modes with nanometer spatial resolution and further provide recipes for resolving optically dark and out-of-plane modes. Full-wave simulations in conjunction with a simple tight-binding model explain the complex plasmon structure in these particles and reveal intriguing mode-symmetry phenomena. Our approach introduces systematics for a comprehensive symmetry characterization of plasmonic states in high-symmetry nanostructures.

We report on the coherent phase manipulation of quantum dot excitons by electric means. For our experiments, we use a low capacitance single quantum dot photodiode which is electrically controlled by a custom designed SiGe:C BiCMOS chip. The phase manipulation is performed and quantified in a Ramsey experiment, where ultrafast transient detuning of the exciton energy is performed synchronous to double pulse p/2 ps laser excitation. We are able to demonstrate electrically controlled phase manipulations with magnitudes up to 3p within 100 ps which is below the dephasing time of the quantum dot exciton.

We study the dependence of the intensity and linear polarization of light scattered by isolated particles with the compact irregular shape on their size using the discontinuous Galerkin time domain numerical method. The size parameter of particles varies in the range of X = 10 to 150, and the complex refractive index is m = 1.5 + 0i. Our results show that the backscattering negative polarization branch weakens monotonously, but does not disappear at large sizes, up to the geometrical optics regime, and can be simulated without accounting for wave effects. The intensity backscattering surge becomes narrower with increasing particle size. For X = 150, the surge width is several degrees.

Polarization of light is essential for some living organisms and many optical applications. Here, an orientation dependent polarization conversion effect is reported for light reflected from diamond‐structure‐based photonic crystals (D‐structure) inside the scales of a beetle, the weevil Entimus imperialis. When linearly polarized light propagates along its 〈100〉 directions, the D‐structure behaves analogous to a half‐wave plate in reflection but based on a different mechanism. The D‐structure rotates the polarization direction of linearly polarized light, and reflects circularly polarized light of both handednesses without changing it. This polarization effect is different from circular dichroism occurring in chiral biological photonic structures discovered before. The structural origin of this effect is symmetry breaking inside D‐structure's unit cell. This finding demonstrates that natural photonic structures can exploit multiple functionalities inherent to the design principles of their structural organization. Aiming at transferring the inherent polarization effect of the biological D‐structure to technically realizable materials, three simplified biomimetic structural models are derived and it is theoretically demonstrated that they retain the effect. Out of these structures, functioning woodpile structure prototypes are fabricated.

Oblique propagation of semi-guided waves across slab waveguide structures with bent corners is investigated. A critical angle can be defined beyond which all radiation losses are suppressed. Additionally an increase of the curvature radius of the bends also leads to low-loss configurations for incidence angles below that critical angle. A combination of two bent corner systems represents a step-like structure, behaving like a Fabry-Perot interferometer, with two partial reflectors separated by the vertical height between the horizontal slabs. We numerically analyse typical high-index-contrast Si/SiO2 structures for their reflectance and transmittance properties. When increasing the curvature radius the resonant effect becomes less relevant such that full transmittance is reached with less critical conditions on the vertical distance or the incidence angle. For practical interest 3-D problems are considered, where the structures are excited by the fundamental mode of a wide, shallow rib waveguide. High transmittance levels can be observed also for these 3-D configurations depending on the width of the rib.

We numerically simulate the circular polarization ratio of the radar signal backscattered from a large-grain cometary coma and compare the simulation results with the radar measurements for seven comets. We apply the discrete dipole approximation method and a model of random irregular particles. Our results confirm water ice composition of the cm-sized chunks detected by the NASA Deep Impact space probe in the vicinity of the nucleus of Comet 103P/Hartley 2. The index of the power-law size distribution in this case can be constrained to the range n ≈ 3.3–4.3. For the other considered comets the circular polarization ratio can be reproduced with variations of the power index between 2 and 5.

The 3D implementation of a hybrid analytical/numerical variant of the coupled-mode theory is discussed. Eigenmodes of the constituting dielectric channels are computed numerically. The frequency-domain coupled-mode models then combine these into fully vectorial approximations for the optical electromagnetic fields of the composite structure. Following a discretization of amplitude functions by 1D finite elements, pro- cedures from the realm of finite-element numerics are applied to establish systems of linear equations for the then- discrete modal amplitudes. Examples substantiate the functioning of the technique and allow for some numerical assessment. The full 3D simulations are highly efficient in memory consumption, moderately demanding in com- putational time, and, in regimes of low radiative losses, sufficiently accurate for practical design. Our results include the perturbation of guided modes by changes of the refractive indices, the interaction of waves in parallel, horizontally or vertically coupled straight waveguides, and a series of crossings of potentially overlapping channels with fairly arbitrary relative positions and orientations.

The modal properties of curved dielectric slab waveguides are investigated. We consider quasi-confined, attenuated modes that propagate at oblique angles with respect to the axis through the center of curvature. Our analytical model describes the transition from scalar 2-D TE/TM bend modes to lossless spiral waves at near-axis propagation angles, with a continuum of vectorial attenuated spiral modes in between. Modal solutions are characterized in terms of directional wavenumbers and attenuation constants. Examples for vectorial mode profiles illustrate the effects of oblique wave propagation along the curved slab segments. For the regime of lossless spiral waves, the relation with the guided modes of corresponding dielectric tubes is demonstrated.

Controlling light emission out of subwavelength nanoslit/aperture structures is of great important for highly integrated photonic circuits. Here we propose a new method to achieve direction-tunable emission based on a compact metallic microcavity with double nanoslit. Our method combines the principles of Young’s interference and surface plasmon polaritons interference. We show that the direction of the far-field beam can be controlled over a wide range of angles by manipulating the frequency and relative phase of light arriving at the two slits, which holds promise for applications in the ultracompact optoelectronic devices.

We successfully developed a process to fabricate freestanding cubic aluminium nitride (c-AlN) membranes containing cubic gallium nitride (c-GaN) quantum dots (QDs). The samples were grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). To realize the photonic crystal (PhC) membrane we have chosen a triangular array of holes. The array was fabricated by electron beam lithography and several steps of reactive ion etching (RIE) with the help of a hard mask and an undercut of the active layer. The r/a- ratio of 0.35 was deter- mined by numerical simulations to obtain a preferably wide photonic band gap. Micro-photoluminescence (μ-PL) measurements of the photonic crystals, in particular of a H1 and a L3 cavity, and the emission of the QD ensemble were performed to characterize the samples. The PhCs show high quality factors of 4400 for the H1 cavity and about 5000/3000 for two different modes of the L3 cavity, respectively. The energy of the fundamental modes is in good agreement to the numerical simulations.

The problem of light scattering by ice crystals of cirrus clouds is considered in the case of a hexagonal ice plate with different distributions over crystal orientations. The physical-optics approximation based on (E, M)-diffraction theory is compared with two exact numerical methods: the finite difference time domain (FDTD) and the discontinuous Galerkin time domain (DGTD) in order to estimate its accuracy and limits of applicability. It is shown that the accuracy of the physical-optics approximation is estimated as 95% for the averaged backscattering Mueller matrix for particles with size parameter more than 120. Furthermore, the simple expression that allows one to estimate the minimal number of particle orientations required for appropriate spatial averaging has been derived.

We present phase sensitive cavity field measurements on photonic crystal microcavities. The experiments have been performed as autocorrelation measurements with ps double pulse laser excitation for resonant and detuned conditions. Measured E-field autocorrelation functions reveal a very strong detuning dependence of the phase shift between laser and cavity field and of the autocorrelation amplitude of the cavity field. The fully resolved phase information allows for a precise frequency discrimination and hence for a precise measurement of the detuning between laser and cavity. The behavior of the autocorrelation amplitude and phase and their detuning dependence can be fully described by an analytic model. Furthermore, coherent control of the cavity field is demonstrated by tailored laser excitation with phase and amplitude controlled pulses. The experimental proof and verification of the above described phenomena became possible by an electric detection scheme, which employs planar photonic crystal microcavity photo diodes with metallic Schottky contacts in the defect region of the resonator. The applied photo current detection was shown to work also efficiently at room temperature, which make electrically contacted microcavities attractive for real world applications.

e study the discrete soliton formation in one- and two- dimensional arrays of nanowires coated with graphene monolayers. Highly confined solitons, including the fundamental and the higher-order modes, are found to be supported by the proposed structure with a low level of power flow. Numerical analysis reveals that, by tuning the input intensity and Fermi energy, the beam diffraction, soliton dimension and propagation loss can be fully controlled in a broad range, indicating potential values of the graphene-based solitons in nonlinear/active nanophotonic systems.

We simulate light scattering by random irregular particles that have dimensions much larger than the wavelength of incident light at the size parameter of 𝑋=200 using the discontinuous Galerkin time domain method. A comparison of the DGTD solution for smoothly faceted particles with that obtained with a geometric optics model shows good agreement for the scattering angle curves of intensity and polarization. If a wavelength-scale surface roughness is introduced, diffuse scattering at rough interface results in smooth and featureless curves for all scattering matrix elements which is consistent with the laboratory measurements of real samples.

We report on second harmonic generation spectroscopy on a series of rectangular arrays of split-ring resonators. Within the sample series, the lattice constants are varied, but the area of the unit cell is kept fixed. The SHG signal intensity of the different arrays upon resonant excitation of the fundamental plasmonic mode strongly depends on the respective arrangement of the split-ring resonators. This finding can be explained by variations of the electromagnetic interactions between the split-ring resonators in the different arrays. The experimental results are in agreement with numerical calculations based on the discontinuous Galerkin time-domain method. (PDF) The role of electromagnetic interactions.... Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297612326_The_role_of_electromagnetic_interactions_in_second_harmonic_generation_from_plasmonic_metamaterials [accessed Aug 13 2018].

The physical optics approximations are derived from the Maxwell equations. The scattered field equations by Kirchhoff, Stratton-Chu, Kottler and Franz are compared and discussed. It is shown that in the case of faceted particles, these equations reduce to a sum of the diffraction integrals, where every diffraction integral is associated with one plane–parallel optical beam leaving a particle facet. In the far zone, these diffraction integrals correspond to the Fraunhofer diffraction patterns. The paper discusses the E-, M- and (E, M)-diffraction theories as applied to ice crystals of cirrus clouds. The comparison to the exact solution obtained by the discontinuous Galerkin time domain method shows that the Kirchhoff diffraction theory is preferable.

We study the formation of subwavelength solitons in binary metal-dielectric lattices. We show that the transverse modulation of the lattice constant breaks the fundamental plasmonic band and suppresses the discrete diffraction of surface plasmon waves. New types of plasmonic solitons are found, and their characteristics are analyzed. We also demonstrate the existence of photonic-plasmonic vector solitons and elucidate their propagation properties.

Sheets of slab waveguides with sharp corners are investigated. By means of rigorous numerical experiments, we look at oblique incidence of semi-guided plane waves. Radiation losses vanish beyond a certain critical angle of incidence. One can thus realize lossless propagation through 90-degree corner configurations, where the remaining guided waves are still subject to pronounced reflection and polarization conversion. A system of two corners can be viewed as a structure akin to a Fabry-Perot-interferometer. By adjusting the distance between the two partial reflectors, here the 90-degree corners, one identifies step-like configurations that transmit the semi-guided plane waves without radiation losses, and virtually without reflections. Simulations of semi-guided beams with in-plane wide Gaussian profiles show that the effect survives in a true 3-D framework.

Plasmon modes of the exact same individual gold nanoprisms are investigated through combined nanometer-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements. We show that CL only probes the radiative modes, in contrast to EELS, which additionally reveals dark modes. The combination of both techniques on the same particles thus provides complementary information and also demonstrates that although the radiative modes give rise to very similar spatial distributions when probed by EELS or CL, their resonant energies appear to be different. We trace this phenomenon back to plasmon dissipation, which affects in different ways the plasmon signatures probed by these techniques. Our experiments are in agreement with electromagnetic numerical simulations and can be further interpreted within the framework of a quasistatic analytical model. We therefore demonstrate that CL and EELS are closely related to optical scattering and extinction, respectively, with the addition of nanometer spatial resolution.

The coherent state preparation and control of single quantum systems is an important prerequisite for the implementation of functional quantum devices. Prominent examples for such systems are semiconductor quantum dots, which exhibit a fine structure split single exciton state and a V-type three level structure, given by a common ground state and two distinguishable and separately excitable transitions. In this work we introduce a novel concept for the preparation of a robust inversion by the sequential excitation in a V-type system via distinguishable paths.

We show how to optically connect guiding layers at different elevations in a 3-D integrated photonic circuit. Transfer of optical power carried by planar, semi-guided waves is possible without reflections or radiation losses, and over large vertical distances. This functionality is realized through simple step-like folds of high-contrast dielectric slab waveguides, in combination with oblique wave incidence, and fulfilling a resonance condition. Radiation losses vanish, and polarization conversion is suppressed for TE wave incidence beyond certain critical angles. This can be understood by fundamental arguments resting on a version of Snell’s law. The two 90° corners of a step act as identical partial reflectors in a Fabry–Perot-like resonator setup. By selecting the step height, i.e., the distance between the reflectors, one realizes resonant states with full transmission. Rigorous quasi-analytical simulations for typical silicon/silica parameters demonstrate the functioning. Combinations of several step junctions can lead to other types of optical on-chip connects, e.g., U-turn- or bridge-like configurations.

Microresonators containing quantum dots find application in devices like single photon emitters for quantum information technology as well as low threshold laser devices. We demonstrate the fabrication of 60 nm thin zinc-blende AlN microdisks including cubic GaN quantum dots using dry chemical etching techniques. Scanning electron microscopy analysis reveals the morphology with smooth surfaces of the microdisks. Micro-photoluminescence measurements exhibit optically active quantum dots. Furthermore this is the first report of resonator modes in the emission spectrum of a cubic AlN microdisk.

Whispering gallery modes (WGMs) were observed in 60 nm thin cubic AlN microdisk resonators containing a single layer of non-polar cubic GaN quantum dots. Freestanding microdisks were patterned by means of electron beam lithography and a two step reactive ion etching process. Micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy investigations were performed for optical characterization. We analyzed the mode spacing for disk diameters ranging from 2-4 lm. Numerical investigations using three dimensional finite difference time domain calculations were in good agreement with the experimental data. Whispering gallery modes of the radial orders 1 and 2 were identified by means of simulated mode field distributions.

Using a finite-difference time-domain method, we theoretically investigate the optical spectra of crossing perpendicular photonic crystal waveguides with quantum dots embedded in the central rod. The waveguides are designed so that the light mainly propagates along one direction and the cross talk is greatly reduced in the transverse direction. It is shown that when a quantum dot (QD) is resonant with the cavity, strong coupling can be observed via both the transmission and crosstalk spectrum. If the cavity is far off-resonant from the QD, both the cavity mode and the QD signal can be detected in the transverse direction since the laser field is greatly suppressed in this direction. This structure could have strong implications for resonant excitation and in-plane detection of QD optical spectroscopy.

We study the quantum properties and statistics of photons emitted by a quantum-dot biexciton inside a cavity. In the biexciton-exciton cascade, fine-structure splitting between exciton levels degrades polarization-entanglement for the emitted pair of photons. However, here we show that the polarization-entanglement can be preserved in such a system through simultaneous emission of two degenerate photons into cavity modes tuned to half the biexciton energy. Based on detailed theoretical calculations for realistic quantum-dot and cavity parameters, we quantify the degree of achievable entanglement.

Optical experiments on second-harmonic generation from split-ring-resonator square arrays show a nonmonotonic dependence of the conversion efficiency on the lattice constant. This finding is interpreted in terms of a competition between dilution effects and linewidth or near-field changes due to interactions among the individual elements in the array.

We numerically investigate the interaction dynamics of coupled cavities in planar photonic crystal slabs in different configurations. The single cavity is optimized for a long lifetime of the fundamental mode, reaching a Q-factor of ≈43, 000 using the method of gentle confinement. For pairs of cavities we consider several configurations and present a setup with strongest coupling observable as a line splitting of about 30 nm. Based on this configuration, setups with three cavities are investigated.

We demonstrate by spin quantum beat spectroscopy that in undoped symmetric (110)-oriented GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum wells, even a symmetric spatial envelope wave function gives rise to an asymmetric in-plane electron Land´e g-factor. The anisotropy is neither a direct consequence of the asymmetric in-plane Dresselhaus splitting nor a direct consequence of the asymmetric Zeeman splitting of the hole bands, but rather it is a pure higher-order effect that exists as well for diamond-type lattices. The measurements for various well widths are very well described within 14 × 14 band k·p theory and illustrate that the electron spin is an excellent meter variable for mapping out the internal—otherwise hidden—symmetries in two-dimensional systems. Fourth-order perturbation theory yields an analytical expression for the strength of the g-factor anisotropy, providing a qualitative understanding of the observed effects.

We study the influence of the phonon environment on the electron dynamics in a doped quantum dot molecule. A non-perturbative quantumkinetic theory based on correlation expansion is used in order to describe both diagonal and off-diagonal electron-phonon couplings representing real and virtual processes with relevant acoustic phonons. We show that the relaxation is dominated by phononassisted electron tunneling between constituent quantum dots and occurs on a picosecond time scale. The dependence of the time evolution of the quantum dot occupation probabilities on the energy mismatch between the quantum dots is studied in detail.

We present a nonequilibrium ab initio method for calculating nonlinear and nonlocal optical effects in metallic slabs with a thickness of several nanometers. The numerical analysis is based on the full solution of the time‐dependent Kohn–Sham equations for a jellium system and allows to study the optical response of metal electrons subject to arbitrarily shaped intense light pulses. We find a strong localization of the generated second‐harmonic current in the surface regions of the slabs.

We numerically investigate the coupling between circular resonators and study strong light‐matter coupling of single as well as multiple circular resonators to quantum‐mechanical resonators in two dimensional model simulations. For all cases, the computed resonances of the coupled system as function of the detuning show anti‐crossings. The obtained mode splittings of coupled optical resonators are strongly depending on distance and cluster in almost degenerate eigenstates for large distances, as is known from coupled resonator optical waveguides. Vacuum Rabi splitting is observed for a quantum dot strongly coupled to eigenmodes of single perfectly cylindrical resonators.

The intensity dependence of optically-induced injection currents in unbiased GaAs semiconductor quantum wells grown in [110] direction is investigated theoretically for a number of well widths. Our microscopic analysis is based on a 14 x 14 band k . p method in combination with the multisubband semiconductor Bloch equations. An oscillatory dependence of the injection current transients as function of intensity and time is predicted and explained. It is demonstrated that optical excitations involving different subbands and Rabi flopping are responsible for this complex dynamics.

We present an ab-initio method for calculating nonlinear and nonlocal optical effects in metallic slabs with sub-wavelength thickness. We find a strong localization of the second-harmonic current at the metal-vacuum interface.

A simulation environment for metallic nanostructures based on the Discontinuous Galerkin Time Domain method is presented. The model is used to compute the linear and nonlinear optical response of split ring resonators and to study physical mechanisms that contribute to second harmonic generation.

The injection of photocurrents by femtosecond laser pulses in (110)-orientedGaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The roomtemperature measurements show an oscillatory dependence of the injection current amplitude and direction on the excitation photon energy. Microscopic calculations using the semiconductor Bloch equations that are set up on the basis of k.p band structure calculations provide a detailed understanding of the experimental findings.

The dynamics of charge and spin injection currents excited by circularly polarized, one-color laser beams in semiconductor quantum wells is analyzed. Our microscopic approach is based on a 14x14 k · p band-structure theory in combination with multisubband semiconductor Bloch equations which allows a detailed analysis of the photogenerated carrier distributions and coherences in k space. Charge and spin injection currents are numerically calculated for [110]- and [001]-grown GaAs quantum wells including dc population contributions and ac contributions that arise from intersubband coherences. The dependencies of the injection currents on the excitation conditions, in particular, the photon energy are computed and discussed.

Microdisks made from GaAs with embedded InAs quantum dots are immersed in the liquid crystal 4-cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl (5CB). The quantum dots serve as emitters feeding the optical modes of the photonic cavity. By changing temperature, the liquid crystal undergoes a phase transition from the isotropic to the nematic state, which can be used as an effective tuning mechanism of the photonic modes of the cavity. In the nematic state, the uniaxial electrical anisotropy of the liquid crystal molecules can be exploited for orienting the material in an electric field, thus externally controlling the birefringence of the material. Using this effect, an electric field induced tuning of the modes is achieved. Numerical simulations using the finite-differences time-domain (FDTD) technique employing an anisotropic dielectric medium allow to understand the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules on the surface of the microdisk resonator.

Excitonic spectra of weakly disordered semiconductor heterostructures are simulated on the basis of a one-dimensional tight-binding model. The influence of the length scale of weak disorder in quantum wells on the redshift of the excitonic peak and its linewidth is studied. By calculating two-dimensional Fouriertransform spectra we are able to determine the contribution of disorder to inhomogeneous and also to homogeneous broadenings separately. This disorder-induced dephasing is related to a Fano-type coupling and leads to contributions to the homogeneous linewidth that depends on energy within the inhomogeneously broadened line. The model includes heavy- and light-hole excitons and yields smaller inhomogeneous broadening for the light-hole exciton if compared to the heavy-hole exciton, which agrees qualitatively with the experiment.

GaAs-based semiconductor microdisks with high quality whispering gallery modes (Q44000) have been fabricated.A layer of self-organized InAs quantumdots (QDs) served as a light source to feed the optical modes at room temperature. In order to achieve frequency tuning of the optical modes, the microdisk devices have been immersed in 4 – cyano – 4´-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), a liquid crystal(LC) with a nematic phase below the clearing temperature of TC≈34°C .We have studied the device performance in the temperature rangeof T=20-50°C, in order to investigate the influence of the nematic–isotropic phase transition on the optical modes. Moreover,we havea pplied an AC electric field to the device,which leads in the nematic phase to a reorientation of the anisotropic dielectric tensor of the liquid crystal.This electrical anisotropy can be used to achieve electrical tunability of the optical modes.Using the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) technique with an anisotropic material model, we are able to describe the influence of the liquid crystal qualitatively.

We study a single quantum dot molecule doped with one electron in the presence of electron-phonon coupling. Both diagonal and off-diagonal interactions representing real and virtual processes with acoustic phonons via deformation potential and piezoelectric coupling are taken into account. We employ a non-perturbative quantum kinetic theory and show that the phonon-mediated relaxation is dominated by an electron tunneling on a picosecond time scale.A dependence of the relaxation on the temperature and the strength of the tunneling coupling is analyzed.

A quantum dot molecule doped with a single electron in the presence of diagonal and off-diagonal carrierphonon couplings is studied by means of a nonperturbative quantum kinetic theory. The interaction with acoustic phonons by deformation potential and piezoelectric coupling is taken into account. We show that the phonon-mediated relaxation is fast on a picosecond time scale and is dominated by the usually neglected off-diagonal coupling to the lattice degrees of freedom leading to phonon-assisted electron tunneling. We show that in the parameter regime of current electrical and optical experiments, the microscopic non-Markovian theory has to be employed.

We numerically investigate the behavior of Whispering Gallery Modes (WGMs) in circularly shaped resonators like microdisks, with diameters in the range of optical vacuum wavelengths. The microdisk is embedded in an uniaxial anisotropic dielectric environment. By changing the optical anisotropy, one obtains spectral tunability of the optical modes. The degree of tunability strongly depends on the radial (azimuthal) mode order M (N). As the modes approach each other spectrally, anticrossing is observed, leading to a rearrangement of the optical states.

It is demonstrated that valence-band mixing in GaAs quantum wells tremendously modifies electronic transport. A coherent control scheme in which ultrafast currents are optically injected into undoped GaAs quantum wells upon excitation with femtosecond laser pulses is employed. An oscillatory dependence of the injection current amplitude and direction on the excitation photon energy is observed. A microscopic theoretical analysis shows that this current reversal is caused by the coupling of the light- and heavy-hole bands and that the hole currents dominate the overall current response. These surprising consequences of band mixing illuminate fundamental physics as they are unique for experiments which are able to monitor electronic transport resulting from carriers with relatively large momenta.

We demonstrate that an optically driven spin of a carrier in a quantum dot undergoes indirect dephasing via conditional optically induced charge evolution even in the absence of any direct interaction between the spin and its environment. A generic model for the indirect dephasing with a three-component system with spin, charge, and reservoir is proposed. This indirect decoherence channel is studied for the optical spin manipulation in a quantum dot with a microscopic description of the charge-phonon interaction taking into account its non-Markovian nature.

Phonon-assisted singlet-singlet relaxation in semiconductor quantum dot molecules is studied theoretically. Laterally coupled quantum dot structures doped with two electrons are considered. We take into account interaction with acoustic phonon modes via deformation potential and piezoelectric coupling. We show that piezoelectric mechanism for the considered system is of great importance and for some ranges of quantum dot molecule parameters is the dominant contribution to relaxation. It is shown that the phonon-assisted tunneling is much faster (down to ∼ 6 ps even at zero temperature) in comparison with other decoherence processes. The influence of Coulomb interaction is discussed and its consequences are indicated. We calculate the relaxation rates for GaAs quantum dot molecules and study the dependence on quantum dot size, distance and offset between the constituent quantum dots. In addition the temperature dependence of the tunneling rates is analyzed.

We present phase-resolved pulse propagation measurements that allow us to fully describe the transition between several light–matter interaction regimes. The complete range from linear excitation to the breakdown of the photonic bandgap on to self-induced transmission and self-phase modulation is studied on a high-quality multiple-quantum-well Bragg structure. An improved fast-scanning cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating setup is applied to retrieve the pulse phase with an excellent signal-tonoise ratio. Calculations using the semiconductor Maxwell–Bloch equations show qualitative agreement with the experimental findings.

We study phonon-assisted electron tunneling in semiconductor quantum dot molecules. In particular, singletsinglet relaxation in a two-electron-doped structure is considered. The influence of Coulomb interaction is discussed via comparison with a single-electron system. We find that the relaxation rate reaches similar values in the two cases but the Coulomb interaction shifts the maximum rates toward larger separations between the dots. The difference in electron-phonon interaction between deformation potential and piezoelectric coupling is investigated. We show that the phonon-induced tunneling between two-electron singlet states is a fast process, taking place on the time scales of the order of a few tens of picoseconds.

The interaction of strong low-area pulses with two-level systems shows absorption line narrowing and hole burning within the homogeneous linewidth as a result of nonlinear wave mixing. The wave mixing results from the two-level electronic saturation nonlinearity and occurs, depending on the sign of the pulse area, as a strong absorption enhancement or gain at the transition frequency of the two-level system for resonant excitation.

We theoretically study the biexciton-phonon interaction in strongly confined semiconductor quantum dots. For spectrally narrow single-pulse excitation generation of biexcitonic occupations is only possible via a two-photon cascade, which exhibits renormalized Rabi oscillations and spectrally compressed phononsidebands.

We investigate the optical properties of a Coulomb-coupled double-quantum dot system excited by coherent light pulses. Basic effects of Coulomb coupling regarding linear and nonlinear optical processes are discussed. By numerically solving the Heisenberg equation of motion we are able to present the temporal evolution of the system’s density matrix for a wide range of coupling parameters. The two main coupling effects in dipole approximation, biexcitonic shift and Förster energy transfer, are investigated and their qualitative and quantitative influence on absorption spectra, Rabi oscillations, and single- and two-pulse excitation is discussed. We present simulated differential transmission spectra to allow for comparison with recent experimental studies.

A microscopic description based on the density matrix formalism is developed to describe the dynamics of photoemission of hot electrons at semiconductor surfaces, including the interaction of bulk and surface states. The equations of motion for the electronic occupations and transitions include the interaction with arbitrary optical fields as well as the electron-phonon coupling. Model wave functions are used to qualitatively describe the bulk-surface dynamics and the subsequent time resolved two-photon photoemission s2PPEd spectra. Our results suggest that it is possible to extract energetic and temporal information of the underlying dynamical occupations of the intermediate states from the 2PPE spectra.

Time-dependent two-photon photoemission spectra are used to resolve the femtosecond dynamics of hot electrons at the energetically lowest surface resonance of reconstructed InP(100). Two different cases are studied, where electrons either are lifted into the surface resonance via a direct optical transition or are captured from bulk states. These data are the first of this kind recorded with a time resolution below 70 fs. The microscopic analysis shows that electron-phonon scattering is a major mechanism for electron transfer between surface and bulk states.