Nominally forbidden transitions in the interband optical spectrum of quantum dots

TL;DR

This study reveals that certain optical transitions in quantum dots, previously considered forbidden, are actually allowed due to finite band-offsets, orbital mixing, and confinement effects, aligning with experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces an atomistic pseudopotential and configuration-interaction approach to identify nominally forbidden optical transitions in quantum dots, explaining recent experimental satellites.

Findings

Identification of three types of allowed transitions previously considered forbidden

Agreement of theoretical predictions with recent spectroscopic data

Explanation of observed satellite peaks in optical spectra

Abstract

We calculate the excitonic optical absorption spectra of (In,Ga)As/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots by adopting an atomistic pseudopotential approach to the single-particle problem followed by a configuration-interaction approach to the many-body problem. We find three types of allowed transitions that would be naively expected to be forbidden. (i) Transitions that are parity forbidden in simple effective mass models with infinite confining wells (e.g. 1S-2S, 1P-2P) but are possible by finite band-offsets and orbital-mixing effects; (ii) light-hole--to--conduction transitions, enabled by the confinement of light-hole states; and (iii) transitions that show and enhanced intensity due to electron-hole configuration mixing with allowed transitions. We compare these predictions with results of 8-band k.p calculations as well as recent spectroscopic data. Transitions in (i) and (ii) explain recently observed satellites of the allowed P-P transitions.