Lateral spatial switching of excitons using vertical electric fields in semiconductor quantum rings

Abstract: We study the response of exciton complexes in semiconductor quantum rings to vertical electric fields, using path integral quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The interaction of a vertical applied field and the piezoelectric fields of the ring with strongly-correlated excitonic complexes switches excitons between two different lateral locations within the ring. This control should be observable through polarizability and dipole measurements, and, for biexcitons, an energy shift beyond the normal Stark shift.