Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Using scattering-type near-field infrared microscopy in combination with a free-electron laser, intersublevel transitions in buried single InAs quantum dots are investigated. The experiments are performed at room temperature on doped self-assembled quantum dots capped with a 70 nm GaAs layer. Clear near-field contrast of single dots is observed when the photon energy of the incident beam matches intersublevel transition energies, namely the p-d and s-d transition of conduction band electrons confined in the dots. The observed room-temperature linewidth of 5 – 8 meV of these resonances in the mid-infrared range is significantly below the inhomogeneously broadened spectral lines of quantum dot ensembles. The experiment highlights the strength of near-field micro-spectroscopy by demonstrating signals from bound-to-bound transitions of single electrons in a probe volume of the order of (100 nm)^3.