Sensitive detection of photoexcited carriers by resonant tunneling through a single quantum dot

Abstract

We show that the resonant tunnel current through a single energy level of an individual quantum dot within an ensemble of dots is strongly sensitive to photoexcited holes that become bound in the close vicinity of the dot. The presence of these holes lowers the electrostatic energy of the quantum dot state and switches the current-carrying channel from fully open to fully closed with a high on/off ratio $(>50)$. The device can be reset by means of a bias voltage pulse. These properties are of interest for charge-sensitive photon counting devices.