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Structural analysis of strained quantum dots using nuclear magnetic resonance

Nature Nanotechnology volume 7, pages 646–650 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Strained semiconductor nanostructures can be used to make single-photon sources1, detectors2 and photovoltaic devices3, and could potentially be used to create quantum logic devices4,5. The development of such applications requires techniques capable of nanoscale structural analysis, but the microscopy methods6,7,8 typically used to analyse these materials are destructive. NMR techniques can provide non-invasive structural analysis, but have been restricted to strain-free semiconductor nanostructures9,10,11 because of the significant strain-induced quadrupole broadening of the NMR spectra12,13,14. Here, we show that optically detected NMR spectroscopy can be used to analyse individual strained quantum dots. Our approach uses continuous-wave broadband radiofrequency excitation with a specially designed spectral pattern and can probe individual strained nanostructures containing only 1 × 105 quadrupole nuclear spins. With this technique, we are able to measure the strain distribution and chemical composition of quantum dots in the volume occupied by the single confined electron. The approach could also be used to address problems in quantum information processing such as the precise control of nuclear spins15,16,17 in the presence of strong quadrupole effects18,19,20,21.

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Figure 1: Optical techniques for detection of NMR in single quantum dots.
Figure 2: Comparison of saturation and inverse NMR techniques.
Figure 3: Inverse NMR spectra of strained quantum dots.
Figure 4: High-resolution inverse NMR spectra of CTs.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the EPSRC Programme grants (EP/G001642/1 and EP/J007544/1), ITN Spin-Optronics and the Royal Society. J.P. was supported by a CONACYT-Mexico doctoral scholarship. The authors thank A.J. Ramsay and D.N. Krizhanovskii for fruitful discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S3 7RH, UK

    E. A. Chekhovich, J. Puebla, M. S. Skolnick & A. I. Tartakovskii

  2. A. F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, 194021, and Spin Optics Laboratory, St Petersburg State University, St Petersburg, 198504, Russia

    K. V. Kavokin

  3. Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK

    A. B. Krysa & M. Hopkinson

  4. Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory, Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK

    A. D. Andreev

  5. Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    A. M. Sanchez & R. Beanland

Authors
  1. E. A. Chekhovich
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  7. A. M. Sanchez
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Contributions

A.B.K. and M.H. developed and grew the samples. A.M.S. and R.B. produced TEM images of quantum dots. J.P. processed the samples. E.A.C. and A.I.T. conceived the experiments. E.A.C. developed new techniques and carried out the experiments. E.A.C., K.V.K., A.D.A. and A.I.T. analysed the data. E.A.C., A.I.T. and M.S.S. wrote the manuscript with input from all authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to E. A. Chekhovich or A. I. Tartakovskii.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Chekhovich, E., Kavokin, K., Puebla, J. et al. Structural analysis of strained quantum dots using nuclear magnetic resonance. Nature Nanotech 7, 646–650 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.142

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