Two-phonon capture processes into quantum dots: the role of intermediate states

We present a study of carrier capture into quantum dots via emission of longitudinal optical phonons. Two-phonon capture times are found to be of the order of some picoseconds at carrier densities View the MathML source in situations where single-phonon capture processes are energetically prohibited. The influence of different intermediate carrier states on the two-phonon capture rate is investigated and found to exhibit effects of interference between the different contributions.