Probing an exciton in a single quantum dot

Summary form only given. In strongly confined quantum dots the size of the Hilbert space is restricted to the number of confined electronic shells. Recent progress in the fabrication of self-assembled quantum dots has resulted in the possibility of controlling precisely this number as well as the energy separation between the shells. However, the rather large inhomogeneous broadening of the dot spectra requires the performance of optical studies on single quantum dots. Here we have studied single InGaAs self assembled quantum dots by photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy at T = 2K. The dots are to a good approximation cylindrically symmetric. Therefore the electronic shells can be characterized by an angular momentum quantum number.