Electrically probing photonic bandgap phenomena in contacted defect nanocavities

We demonstrate an electrically tunable two dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity containing InAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). Photoluminescence and electroluminescence measurements are combined to probe the cavity mode structure and demonstrate a local electrical contact to the quantum dots. Measurements performed as a function of the electric field enable us to probe the capture, relaxation, and recombination dynamics of photogenerated carriers inside the quantum dots emitting into a modified photonic environment. Furthermore, the two dimensional photonic crystal is probed by spatially dependent photocurrent spectroscopy indicating a 3.5x enhancement of the local radiative lifetime of the QDs inside the photonic crystal environment. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.