
1.Institute of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
2.Present address: Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, CRHEA, F-06560, Valbonne, France
3.Present address: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Johann Stachurski (johann.stachurski@epfl.ch)
Published:31 May 2022,
Published Online:28 April 2022,
Received:17 November 2021,
Revised:04 April 2022,
Accepted:13 April 2022
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Stachurski, J. et al. Single photon emission and recombination dynamics in self-assembled GaN/AlN quantum dots. Light: Science & Applications, 11, 751-765 (2022).
Stachurski, J. et al. Single photon emission and recombination dynamics in self-assembled GaN/AlN quantum dots. Light: Science & Applications, 11, 751-765 (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41377-022-00799-4.
Ⅲ-nitride quantum dots (QDs) are a promising system actively studied for their ability to maintain single photon emission up to room temperature. Here
we report on the evolution of the emission properties of self-assembled GaN/AlN QDs for temperatures ranging from 5 to 300 K. We carefully track the photoluminescence of a single QD and measure an optimum single photon purity of
g
(2)
(0) = 0.05 ± 0.02 at 5 K and 0.17 ± 0.08 at 300 K. We complement this study with temperature dependent time-resolved photoluminescence measurements (TRPL) performed on a QD ensemble to further investigate the exciton recombination dynamics of such polar zero-dimensional nanostructures. By comparing our results to past reports
we emphasize the complexity of recombination processes in this system. Instead of the more conventional mono-exponential decay typical of exciton recombination
TRPL transients display a bi-exponential feature with short- and long-lived components that persist in the low excitation regime. From the temperature insensitivity of the long-lived excitonic component
we first discard the interplay of dark-to-bright state refilling in the exciton
recombination process. Besides
this temperature-invariance also highlights the absence of nonradiative exciton recombinations
a likely direct consequence of the strong carrier confinement observed in GaN/AlN QDs up to 300 K. Overall
our results support the viability of these dots as a potential single-photon source for quantum applications at room temperature.
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