Photoluminescence intermittency of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots confined in a planar microcavity

Photoluminescence intermittency, or "blinking", was observed in semiconductor InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) inside a planar microcavity. Most of the blinking QDs were found around defect sites such as dislocation lines naturally formed in the GaAs barrier layers, and the carrier traps responsible for blinking had an excitation threshold of approximately 1.53 eV. The blinking properties of epitaxial QDs and colloidal nanocrystal QDs were also compared by performing laser intensity dependent measurements and statistics of the "on" and "off" time distributions.