This work analyzes the fine structure of light-hole excitons in nanowire quantum dots, going beyond the standard heavy-hole picture. It clarifies how confinement geometry can qualitatively alter polarization properties and the ordering of low-energy excitonic states.
Keywords: nanowire quantum dots, fine-structure splitting, light-hole excitons
Main result: sufficiently tall nanowire quantum dots can host a light-hole excitonic ground state with optical signatures distinct from conventional heavy-hole dots. The resulting fine structure is highly sensitive to realistic atomistic confinement.