Phonon recycling in semiconductor quantum dots

Energy- and resource-recycling processes are an important part of modern society as they contribute to sustainability. In addition to the traditional waste-management recycling, processes and technologies helping to conserve energy or limit dissipated heat also gain importance in technology and electronic industry. In this project, we will investigate the possibility of a little researched phenomenon of phonon recycling in quantum dots. Phonon recycling is an effect of the re-absorption of already emitted phonons, which leads to the re-use of energy which would otherwise be dissipated in the form of heat. This effect has so far been observed in only specially designed heterostructures. Our preliminary experiments point towards the possibility of the phonon recycling phenomenon, manifested as delayed light emission, in silicon, and possibly other, QDs. If confirmed, phonon recycling has the potential to help reduce the critical issues of thermal heating in modern devices.