  We present a detailed study of a phonon-assisted incoherent excitation
mechanism of single quantum dots. A spectrally-detuned laser couples to a
quantum dot transition by mediation of acoustic phonons, whereby excitation
efficiencies up to 20 % with respect to strictly resonant excitation can be
achieved at T = 9 K. Laser frequency-dependent analysis of the quantum dot
intensity distinctly maps the underlying acoustic phonon bath and shows good
agreement with our polaron master equation theory. An analytical solution for
the photoluminescence is introduced which predicts a broadband incoherent
coupling process when electron-phonon scattering is in the strong phonon
coupling (polaronic) regime. Additionally, we investigate the coherence
properties of the emitted light and study the impact of the relevant pump and
phonon bath parameters.
