Phonon-mediated population inversion in a semiconductor quantum-dot cavity system

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates phonon-mediated population inversion in a quantum-dot cavity system using a polaron master equation, revealing mechanisms for exciton inversion under different driving conditions and their dependence on phonon interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a polaron-based master equation approach to analyze phonon effects in quantum-dot cavity systems, highlighting new mechanisms for exciton inversion and cavity filtering effects.

Findings

Achieved exciton populations above 0.9 at 4K

Identified phonon-mediated incoherent excitation as dominant in exciton driving

Revealed different inversion behaviors for exciton and cavity driving

Abstract

We investigate pump-induced exciton inversion in a quantum-dot cavity system with continuous wave drive. Using a polaron-based master equation, we demonstrate excited-state populations above 0.9 for an InAs dot at a phonon bath temperature of 4K. In an exciton-driven system, the dominant mechanism is incoherent excitation from the phonon bath. For cavity driving, the mechanism is phonon-mediated switching between ground- and excited-state branches of the ladder of photon states, as quantum trajectory simulations clearly show. The exciton inversion as a function of detuning is found to be qualitatively different for exciton and cavity driving, primarily due to cavity filtering. The master equation approach allows us to include important radiative and non-radiative decay processes on the zero phonon line, provides a clear underlying dynamic in terms of photon and phonon scattering, and admits simple analytical approximations that help to explain the physics.