Slow light in semiconductor quantum wells

We demonstrate slow light via population oscillation in semiconductor quantum-well structures for the first time. A group velocity as low as 9600 m/s is inferred from the experimentally measured dispersive characteristics. The transparency window exhibits a bandwidth as large as 2 GHz.     

Coulombic bound states in semiconductor quantum wells

Recent theoretical works on Coulombic bound states in semiconductor quantum wells (Q.W.) are reviewed. Due to carrier confinement along the growth axis the bound impurity or exciton states display enhanced binding energies over the bulk values. The presence of free carriers in modulation-doped quantum wells decreases the impurity binding energies. However the quasi-bidimensionality of the carrier motion prevents a complete vanishing of impurity bound states. The photoluminescence line of high-quality quantum well is often Stokes-shifted with respect to the absorption or excitation spectra. This Stokes shift can be correlated with interface defects in a qualitative fashion.     

Novel effects in extremely broadband semiconductor optical amplifiers with non-identical quantum wells

An extremely broad emission spectrum is obtained for semiconductor optical amplifiers with multiple quantum wells fabricated on the substrate. The spectral width is nearly 400 nm (1200–1600 nm), which covers the entire usable bandwidth of an optical fiber. Broadband characteristics allow observing three novel effects: (i) the bi-directional guided effect of lasing mode in a bent waveguide of semiconductor optical amplifiers, (ii) the optical switching effect in one semiconductor optical amplifier for optical communication band, and (iii) the effect of separate confinement heterostructure layer thickness.     

Impact of propagation effects on intersubband Rabi flopping in semiconductor quantum wells

We investigate intersubband Rabi flopping in modulation-doped semiconductor quantum wells with and without the propagation effects, respectively. It is shown that propagation effects have a larger impact on Rabi flopping than the nonlinearities rooted from electron-electron interactions in multiple quantum wells. By using ultrashort π pulses, an almost complete population inversion exists if the propagation effects are not considered; while no complete population inversion occurs in the presence of propagation effects. Furthermore, the magnitude of the impact of propagation effects may be controlled by varying the carrier density.     

Spontaneous spin polarization in doped semiconductor quantum wells

We calculate the critical density of the zero-temperature, first-order ferromagnetic phase transition in n-doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. We predict that this transition could be observed in narrow quantum wells at electron densities somewhat lower than the ones that have been considered experimentally thus far, and that there exists an upper limit for the well width beyond which there would be no transition as long as only one subband is populated. Our calculations are done within a screened Hartree-Fock approximation with a polarization-dependent effective mass, which is adjusted to match the critical density predicted by Monte Carlo calculations for the strictly two-dimensional electron gas.     

Plasmons localized at impurities in semiconductor quantum wells

Bound plasmons in inhomogeneous carrier gases in the presence of a point charge impurity in semiconductor quantum wells are studied. An integral equation for the self-consistent localization of the plasmon is derived. Bound states are found for intersubband plasmons for all carrier densities, a result which differs qualitatively from the bulk case. Numerical results for the binding energies are given.     

Dipole electron scattering in compensated semiconductor quantum wells

This paper reports on a theoretical study of conduction electron scattering by a system of dipoles formed by closely spaced positively and negatively charged centers in a quantum well.     

Intersubband absorption in highly photoexcited semiconductor quantum wells

Transient mid infrared (MIR) absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate transitions between higher electronic subbands in semiconductor quantum well (QW) structures after interband photoexcitation with intense picosecond pulses in the visible spectral range. Our investigation focuses on the e₂–e₃ intersubband transition in an asymmetric undoped GaAs/AlGaAs QW structure. At an injected nonequilibrium carrier density of 1×10¹³ cm⁻²/QW, an e₂–e₃ absorption band at 99 meV with a spectral width of 5 meV is found. For a higher density studied, 3×10¹³ cm⁻²/QW, the band is broadened and blueshifted by 30 meV. Intersubband absorption signals are distinguished from free-carrier absorption signals in the MIR by their characteristic time behavior.     

The infrared spin-galvanic effect in semiconductor quantum wells

The spin-galvanic effect generated by homogeneous optical excitation with infrared circularly polarized radiation in quantum wells (QWs) is reviewed. The spin-galvanic current flow is driven by an asymmetric distribution of spin-polarized carriers in k-space of systems with lifted spin degeneracy due to k-linear terms in the Hamiltonian. Spin photocurrents provide methods to investigate the spin-splitting of the band structure and to make conclusion on the in-plane symmetry of QWs.     

Steady holographic gratings in semiconductor multiple quantum wells

A theoretical model based on the Dember mechanism is proposed to describe the steady state photorefractive gratings generated in semiconductor multiple quantum wells (MQW). It has been applied to an GaAs/AlGaAs MQW in parallel configuration (external electric field applied parallel to the MQW layers) for which recent experimental data are available. The model predicts a dependence of the first-order diffraction efficiency on the applied field in qualitative accordance with experiments, including the occurrence of saturation at high field values. Absolute values of the efficiencies are in good agreement with the experimental ones. Finally, high second-order diffraction efficiencies, associated with the development of a perpendicular space charge field, are also predicted by the model.     

Stark states in semiconductor quantum wells and superlattices

The quasi-bound states of electrons and holes in coupled GaAsAlGaAs quantum wells in the presence of an applied electric field perpendicular to the wells are determined by the exact solution of the Schroedinger equation using the iteration matrix formalism. The transmission probability in a finite superlattice is also calculated taking into account the exact wave functions in the barriers and wells. The method can be useful to interpret recent tunneling-current measurements.     

Electric-field dependence of the intersubband optical absorption in a semiconductor quantum well

We present theoretical results of intersubband linear optical absorption in the conduction band of a GaAsAlGaAs quantum well with an applied electric field taking into account the field dependent linewidth. Our analysis is based on the one electron density matrix formulation with intrasubband relaxation processes due to polar optical phonon scattering and tunneling of electrons. We show that (a) for an increasing electric field the absorption peak corresponding to the transition of states 1 → 2 is shifted higher in energy and (b) the peak amplitude increases if the Fermi level is fixed and decreases if the electron density in the well is fixed when an increasing electric field is applied. The linewidth broadening also reduces the peak absorption amplitude.