Abstract

The Optical Aharonov-Bohm Effect in Quantum Dots

The Aharonov-Bohm (AB) Effect is one of the most intriguing manifestations of the wave nature of matter.  It is not expected for overall neutral particles, such as excitons in solids.  However, a mechanism for the AB phase of a neutral particle - a polarized exciton confined to a quantum ring or type-II quantum dot (QD) was proposed.  The existence of strong AB oscillations in the energy and intensity of exciton emission were predicted.  Currently, the AB excitons in type-II QDs and quantum rings are under study in several experimental and theoretical groups.  We observed recently, several really striking results in the magneto-optical experiments on stacked multiple type-II QDs, which we present in this talk.