Near-field Optical Spectroscopy and Microscopy of Laterally Coupled Quantum Dots: Bonding and Antibonding States

We report on high-resolution photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopic and microscopic study of laterally coupled InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots by using a low-temperature near-field scanning optical microscope. We have observed slightly split PL spectra, which are associated with the bonding (symmetric) and antibonding (antisymmetric) energy states between two coupled quantum dots, closely located each other as confirmed by spatial mapping of the PL intensity. The experimental results are in qualitative agreement with the simple theoretical calculations based on a two-dimensional potential model. This work may open the way to a simultaneous spectroscopy and microscopy study of laterally coupled quantum dots in a high-density quantum dot sample without any articulate sample fabrication.