Origins and validity of the artificial atom model for a semi-conductor quantum box

The artificial atom model is the intuitive physical picture that comes from the discretization of the energy spectrum of electrons that are confined along the 3 spatial dimensions inside a semi-conductor quantum box. This document presents the study of electronic and optical properties of quantum boxes in the framework of self-organized InAs/GaAs nano-structures. The aim is to set the validity limits of the artificial atom model. (A.C.)