title: Coherent control of a V-type three-level system in a single quantum dot.
abstract: In a semiconductor quantum dot, the IIx and IIy transitions to the polarization eigenstates, |x> and |y>, naturally form a three-level V-type system. Using low-temperature polarized photoluminescence spectroscopy, we have investigated the exciton dynamics arising under strong laser excitation. We also explicitly solved the density matrix equations for comparison with the experimental data. The polarization of the exciting field controls the coupling between the otherwise orthogonal states. In particular, when the system is initialized into \Y>, a polarization-tailored pulse can swap the population into |x>, and vice versa, effectively operating on the exciton spin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, People's Republic of China. qqwang@physics.utexas.edu
authors.forename: Q Q
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bianucci
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Shih