Excitonic fine structure of epitaxial Cd(Se,Te) on ZnTe type-II quantum dots

The structure of the ground-state exciton of Cd(Se,Te) quantum dots embedded in ZnTe matrix is studied experimentally using photoluminescence spectroscopy and theoretically using k ?? p and configuration interaction methods. The experiments reveal a considerable reduction of fine-structure splitting energy of the exciton with an increase of Se content in the dots. That effect is interpreted by theoretical calculations to originate due to the transition from spatially direct (type-I) to indirect (type-II) transition between electrons and holes in the dot induced by an increase of Se. The trends predicted by the theory match those of the experimental results very well. The theory identifies that the main mechanism causing elevated fine-structure energy, in particular in type-I dots, is due to the multipole expansion of the exchange interaction. Moreover, the theory reveals that for Se contents in the dot >0.3, there also exists a peculiar type of confinement showing signatures of both type I and type II and which exhibits extraordinary properties, such as an almost purely light hole character of exciton and toroidal shapes of hole states.