We report the direct measurement of the persistent current carried by a single electron by means of magnetization experiments on self-assembled $\mathrm{InAs}/\mathrm{GaAs}$ quantum rings. We measured the first Aharonov-Bohm oscillation at a field of 14 T, in perfect agreement with our model based on the structural properties determined by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy measurements. The observed oscillation magnitude of the magnetic moment per electron is remarkably large for the topology of our nanostructures, which are singly connected and exhibit a pronounced shape asymmetry.

We have measured the vertical Stark effect of excitons confined to individual self-assembled ring-shaped quantum dots. We find that the excitons have very large permanent dipole moments corresponding to electron-hole separations up to 2.5 nm, comparable to the nanostructures’ physical height. We find a trend of both permanent dipole moment and polarizability on the emission energy, but a very strong correlation between the permanent dipole moment and the polarizability.

An exciton in a symmetric semiconductor quantum dot has two possible states, one dark and one bright, split in energy by the electron-hole exchange interaction. We demonstrate that for a doubly charged exciton, there are also two states split by the electron-hole exchange, but both states are now bright. We also uncover a fine structure in the emission from the triply charged exciton. By measuring these splittings, and also those from the singly charged and doubly charged biexcitons, all on the same quantum dot, we show how the various electron-hole exchange energies can be measured without having to break the symmetry of the dot.

We present an atomic-scale analysis of the indium distribution of self-assembled In(Ga)As quantum rings (QRs) which are formed from InAs quantum dots by capping with a thin layer of GaAs and subsequent annealing. We find that the size and shape of QRs as observed by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (X-STM) deviate substantially from the ring-shaped islands as observed by atomic force microscopy on the surface of uncapped QR structures. We show unambiguously that X-STM images the remaining quantum dot material whereas the AFM images the erupted quantum dot material. The remaining dot material shows an asymmetric indium-rich crater-like shape with a depression rather than an opening at the center and is responsible for the observed electronic properties of QR structures. These quantum craters have an indium concentration of about 55% and a diameter of about $20\mathrm{nm}$ which is consistent with the observed electronic radius of QR structures.