Tunneling control of single charge carriers in antimonide-based hybrid nanostructures

• Grant number: 24/13583-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: December 10, 2024
• End date: December 09, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Marcio Daldin Teodoro
• Grantee: Gabriel Marques Jacobsen
• Supervisor: Gregory J Salamo
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Arkansas, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/08731-3 - Dynamics of charge carriers and spin in type-II antimonide nanostructures, BP.DD

Abstract

Recent advancements in growth techniques involving antimony-based nanostructures have sparked considerable interest in incorporating them into traditional III-V semiconductor systems. This pursuit is driven by their ability to shift optical emissions towards telecommunication wavelengths, reduce strain, enhance spin-orbit coupling effects, and enable different band alignments. Such features make them promising candidates for applications in optoelectronics, spintronics, single-photon emitters, and quantum information technologies.From this perspective, heterostructures composed of quantum well (QW) and quantum dot (QD) layers, tunnel-coupled by a thin interlayer, have demonstrated intriguing effects regarding tunneling and spin dynamic mechanisms, providing prospects for electron-photon spin conversion, enhanced laser operation, and manipulation of spin states. However, few reports delve into the intrinsic elements of these processes, particularly the role played by holes in such structures, which is often outweighed by electron dynamics. To address this gap, we propose to survey systems formed by type-II QWs and QDs, where only holes are spatially confined, allowing the precise control of tunneling by a single carrier type.Hence, this project aims to explore the underlying aspects of hole dynamics in tunnel-coupled semiconductor nanostructures based on antimonides and their potential uses in spintronics. By combining composition and size modulations with band structure simulations, the optical transitions will be tailored to achieve optimal conditions for investigating hole tunneling, band bending and exciton coherence effects. Characterization techniques will be employed to study the morphology and content distribution within the samples, while photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) will be used to investigate their electronic properties and dynamics. External parameters such as excitation power, electric and magnetic fields will be applied to exploit efficient routes for tuning coupling strength between the nanostructures and controlling spin polarity. Therefore, the development of this project will be paramount for understanding the fundamental concepts behind hole dynamics in these attractive systems.