Project of the month, December 2009

Quantum dot-based metamaterials

To pursue the hitherto very rapid development in integrated photonics, high index of refraction and metallic behaviour (negative epsilon) are two mostly studied fundamental issues to shrink optical component sizes and to tackle the sub-wavelength limit. Resonant exciton states in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) provide a source for both the high index of refraction and a negative dielectric constant. We have confirmed experimentally the exciton-polariton effect by showing the correlation between the photoluminescence (PL) and reflectance spectra of a multiple-InAs-QD-layer structure.

The above picture shows reflectance and PL spectra of the ten-layer InAs/InGaAs/GaAs QD sample. Inset shows the geometry of the edge polished sample.

In this project we started working on colloidal quantum dots dedicated for optical-wavelength metamaterial applications. The following picture shows the bright luminescence of colloidal quantum dots from UV to infrared.

This work is a part of the Biophotonics project of Mátyás Molnár.
If you have further questions, please contact me at molnar-at-theochem.kth.se.

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