Mott transition from a diluted exciton gas to a dense electron-hole plasma in a single V-shaped quantum wire
Résumé
We report on the study of many-body interactions in a single high-quality V-shaped quantum wire by means of continuous and time-resolved microphotoluminescence. The transition from a weakly interacting exciton gas when the carrier density n is less than 105 cm-1 (i.e., naX<0.1, with aX the exciton Bohr radius) to a dense electron-hole plasma (n>106 cm-1, i.e., naX>1) is systematically followed in the system as the carrier density is increased. We show that this transition occurs gradually: the free carriers first coexist with excitons for naX>0.1; then the electron-hole plasma becomes degenerate at naX=0.8. We also show that the nonlinear effects are strongly related to the kind of disorder and localization properties in the structure especially in the low-density regime