Optically controllable switch for light propagation based on triple coupled quantum dots.

A switch is proposed for controlling the subluminal and superluminal light propagation through the triple coupled quantum dots system. The steady-state and transient behavior of the absorption and the dispersion of a probe pulse through a triple quantum dots molecule are investigated. We demonstrate that the group velocity of a light pulse can be controlled from subluminal to superluminal or vice versa by controlling the rates of incoherent pumping and tunneling between electronic levels. Switching time is calculated by discussing the dependency of optical transient properties on the incoherent pumping and inter-dot tunneling rates. We introduce three controlling parameters that make it possible to control the wave propagation electrically or even optically in such coupled quantum dot systems.