Single dot photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy in the telecommunication spectral range

Single dot photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy provides an insight into energy structure of individual quantum dots, energy transfer processes within and between the dots and their surroundings. The access to single dot energy structure is vital for further development of telecom-based quantum emitters, like single photon sources or entangled pair of photons. However, application of single dot photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy is limited mainly to dots emitting below 1 μm, while nanostructures optically active in the telecommunication windows of 1.3 and 1.55 μm are of particular interest, as they correspond to the desirable wavelengths in nanophotonic applications. This report presents an approach to photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy covering this application-relevant spectral range on single dot level. Experimental details are discussed, including issues related to the tunable excitation source and its spectral filtering, and illustrated with examples of photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy results from single quantum dots emitting in both the 1.3 and 1.55 μm spectral ranges.