Abstract

Self-assembled semiconductor quantum dots display discrete electronic energy levels coupled by optical transitions and they are governed by spin-dependent optical selection rules. This opens an optical channel to control and detect a single spin in a quantum dot and significant progress was witnessed based on this property in the field of quantum information science. In the quest to suppress the detrimental effects of the environment, quantum metrology emerged as a recent topic of research with potential applications. Excitonic transitions of self-assembled quantum dots can depend strongly on the ambient electric and magnetic fields, as well as strain. We will discuss how this susceptibility can be utilized in return for electric field sensing with sensitivity better than 1 V/m/√Hz and we will continue on to other avenues of quantum metrology using self-assembled quantum dots.