Imaging single quantum dots in three-dimensional photonic crystals.
Performing fluorescence wide-field microscopy we have imaged single semiconductor quantum dots deep inside a 3-dimensional photonic crystal prepared from colloidal polymer beads. Exploring the emission diffraction patterns in defocused images of quantum dots we demonstrate that the direction-dependent photonic stop band imprints an anisotropy to the angular emission of a single quantum dot. Hence a single, quasi-point-like emitter is manipulated to radiate its photons only to certain well-defined directions by means of the anisotropic light propagation in photonic crystals. The experiments thus provide new routes to evaluate local, frequency selective optical properties in 3-dimensional photonic crystals employing single emitters.
Barth
Michael
M
Photonics and Optical Materials, Institute of Physics, Chemnitz University of Technology, 09107 Chemnitz, Germany.
Schuster
Roman
R
Gruber
Achim
A
Cichos
Frank
F