Resonant optical pumping across the band gap was used as artificial doping in InAs/In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs quantum dots-in-a-well infrared photodetectors. A selective increase in the electron population in the different quantum dot energy levels enabled the low temperature photocurrent peaks observed at 120 and 148 meV to be identified as intersubband transitions emanating from the quantum dot ground state and the quantum dot excited state, respectively. The response was increased by a factor of 10 through efficient filling of the quantum dot energy levels by simultaneous optical pumping into the ground states and the excited states of the quantum dots.