Photon-statistics excitation spectroscopy of a single two-level system

Abstract

We investigate the influence of the photon statistics on the excitation dynamics of a single two level system. A single semiconductor quantum dot represents the two level system and is resonantly excited either with coherent laser light, or excited with chaotic light, with photon statistics corresponding to that of thermal radiation. Experimentally, we observe a reduced absorption cross section under chaotic excitation in the steady-state. In the transient regime, the Rabi oscillations observable under coherent excitation disappear under chaotic excitation. Likewise, in the emission spectrum the well-known Mollow triplet, which we observe under coherent drive, disappears under chaotic excitation. Our observations are fully consistent with theoretical predictions based on the semi-classical Bloch equation approach.