Scanning second-harmonic optical microscopy of self-assembled InAlGaAs quantum dots

Summary form only given. Microscopy provides a suitable technique for local probing of small ensembles of (or even individual) QD´s, and when combined with the detection of second-harmonic (SH) generation the technique becomes suitable to reveal tiny changes of symmetry originating either in the material structures or in the illumination itself. Thus, a combination of scanning microscopy with SH detection may be a highly suitable candidate to reveal the presence of QD´s embedded in an otherwise isotropic material. We have used scanning far-field (SFOM) and scanning near field optical microscopy (SNOM) techniques to locally probe small ensembles of self-assembled InAlGaAs QD´s.