Electrically defined quantum dots for bosonic excitons

Quantum dots are semiconductor nano-structures where particle motion is confined in all three spatial dimensions. Since their first experimental realization, nanocrystals confining the quanta of polarization waves, termed excitons, have found numerous applications in fields ranging from single photon sources for quantum information processing to commercial displays. A major limitation to further extending the range of potential applications has been the large inhomogeneity in, and lack-of tunability of, exciton energy that is generic to quantum dot materials. Here, we address this challenge by demonstrating electrically-defined quantum dots for excitons in monolayer semiconductors where the discrete exciton energies can be tuned using applied gate voltages. Resonance fluorescence measurements show strong spectral jumps and blinking of these resonances, verifying their zero-dimensional nature. Our work paves the way for realizing quantum confined bosonic modes where nonlinear response would arise exclusively from exciton–exciton interactions.