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    Towards deterministically controlled InGaAs/GaAs lateral quantum dot molecules
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2008) Wang, L.; Rastelli, A.; Kiravittaya, S.; Atkinson, P.; Ding, F.; Bof Bufon, C.C.; Hermannstädter, C.; Witzany, M.; Beirne, G.J.; Michler, P.; Schmidt, O.G.
    We report on the fabrication, detailed characterization and modeling of lateral InGaAs quantum dot molecules (QDMs) embedded in a GaAs matrix and we discuss strategies to fully control their spatial configuration and electronic properties. The three-dimensional morphology of encapsulated QDMs was revealed by selective wet chemical etching of the GaAs top capping layer and subsequent imaging by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM investigation showed that different overgrowth procedures have a profound consequence on the QDM height and shape. QDMs partially capped and annealed in situ for micro- photoluminescence spectroscopy consist of shallow but well-defined quantum dots (QDs) in contrast to misleading results usually provided by surface morphology measurements when they are buried by a thin GaAs layer. This uncapping approach is crucial for determining the QDM structural parameters, which are required for modeling the system. A single-band effective-mass approximation is employed to calculate the confined electron and heavy-hole energy levels, taking the geometry and structural information extracted from the uncapping experiments as inputs. The calculated transition energy of the single QDM shows good agreement with the experimentally observed values. By decreasing the edge-to-edge distance between the two QDs within a QDM, a splitting of the electron (hole) wavefunction into symmetric and antisymmetric states is observed, indicating the presence of lateral coupling. Site control of such lateral QDMs obtained by growth on a pre-patterned substrate, combined with a technology to fabricate gate structures at well-defined positions with respect to the QDMs, could lead to deterministically controlled devices based on QDMs. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
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    Modification of Surface Bond Au Nanospheres by Chemically and Plasmonically Induced Pd Deposition
    (Basel : MDPI, 2021) Stolle, Heike Lisa Kerstin Stephanie; Csáki, Andrea; Dellith, Jan; Fritzsche, Wolfgang
    In this work we investigated methods of modifying gold nanospheres bound to a silicon surface by depositing palladium onto the surfaces of single nanoparticles. Bimetallic Au-Pd nanoparticles can thus be gained for use in catalysis or sensor technology. For Pd deposition, two methods were chosen. The first method was the reduction of palladium acetate by ascorbic acid, in which the amounts of palladium acetate and ascorbic acid were varied. In the second method we utilized light-induced metal deposition by making use of the plasmonic effect. Through this method, the surface bond nanoparticles were irradiated with light of wavelengths capable of inducing plasmon resonance. The generation of hot electrons on the particle surface then reduced the palladium acetate in the vicinity of the gold nanoparticle, resulting in palladium-covered gold nanospheres. In our studies we demonstrated the effect of both enhancement methods by monitoring the particle heights over enhancement time by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and investigated the influence of ascorbic acid/Pd acetate concentration as well as the impact of the irradiated wavelengths on the enhancement effect. It could thus be proven that both methods were valid for obtaining a deposition of Pd on the surface of the gold nanoparticles. Deposition of Pd on the gold particles using the light-assisted method could be observed, indicating the impact of the plasmonic effect and hot electron for Pd acetate reduction on the gold particle surface. In the case of the reduction method with ascorbic acid, in addition to Pd deposition on the gold nanoparticle surface, larger pure Pd particles and extended clusters were also generated. The reduction with ascorbic acid however led to a considerably thicker Pd layer of up to 54 nm in comparison to up to 11 nm for the light-induced metal deposition with light resonant to the particle absorption wavelength. Likewise, it could be demonstrated that light of non-resonant wavelengths was not capable of initiating Pd deposition, since a growth of only 1.6 nm (maximum) was observed for the Pd layer.