Transient reflection: a versatile technique for ultrafast spectroscopy of a single quantum dot in complex environments

Increasingly complex structures such as optical antennas or cavities are coupled to self-assembled quantum dots to harvest their quantum-optical properties. In many cases, these structures pose a problem for common methods of ultrafast spectroscopy used to write and read out the state of the quantum dot. We present a pure far-field method that only requires optical access to the quantum dot and does not impose further restrictions on sample design. We demonstrate Rabi oscillations and perturbed free induction decay of single GaAs quantum dots that have a dipole moment as small as 18 D. Our method will greatly facilitate ultrafast spectroscopy of complex quantum-optical circuits.