Abstract
We predict a mechanism for achieving complete population inversion in a continuously driven InAs/GaAs semiconductor quantum dot featuring V-type transitions. This highly nonequilibrium steady state is enabled by the interplay between V-type interband transitions and a non-Markovian decoherence mechanism, introduced by acoustic phonons. The population trapping mechanism is generalized to a chain of coupled emitters. Exploiting the population inversion, we predict unidirectional excitation transport from one end of the chain to the other without external bias, independent of the unitary interdot coupling mechanism.