Inter-sublevel dephasing in quantum dots

We use the Dresden Free-Electron-Laser (FELBE) to investigate intersublevel coherence times in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) by degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) spectroscopy. We know from pump-probe measurements¹ on a series of quantum dot samples with varying intersublevel energy that intersublevel relaxation times of the s-p intersublevel transition can become very long (up to 1.5 ns). Due to the discrete nature of these sublevels, intersublevel coherence times should exhibit similar time constants at low temperatures where “pure dephasing” is suppressed.