Condensation of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells

Experimental observations of the collective behavior of interwell excitons in the binary quantum wells with inclined bands under bias are discussed.     

Collective state of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells under pulse resonance excitation

The time evolution and kinetics of photoluminescence (PL) spectra of interwell excitons in double GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (n-i-n structures) have been investigated under the pulse resonance excitation of intrawell 1sHH excitons using a pulsed tunable laser. It is found that the collective exciton phase arises with a time delay relative to the exciting pulse (several nanoseconds), which is due to density and temperature relaxation to the equilibrium values. The origination of the collective phase of interwell excitons is accompanied by a strong narrowing of the corresponding photoluminescence line (the line width is about 1.1 meV), a superlinear rise in its intensity, a long time in the change of the degree of circular polarization, a displacement of the PL spectrum toward lower energies (about 1.5 meV) in accordance with the filling of the lowest state with the exciton Bose condensate, and a significant increase in the radiative decay rate of the condensed phase. The collective exciton phase arises at temperatures T<6 K and interwell exciton densities n=3×10¹⁰ cm^?2. Coherent properties of the collective phase of interwell excitons and experimental manifestations of this coherence are discussed.     

Phase diagram of the Bose condensation of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells

The luminescence of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells (n-i-n heterostructures) with large-scale fluctuations of random potential in the heteroboundary planes was studied at low temperatures down to 0.5 K. The properties of excitons whose photoexcited electron and hole are spatially separated in the neighboring quantum wells by a tunneling barrier were studied as functions of density and temperature. The studies were performed within domains about one micron in size, which played the role of macroscopic traps for interwell excitons. For this purpose, the sample surface was coated with a metal mask containing special openings (windows) of a micron size or smaller. Both photoexcitation and observation of luminescence were performed through these windows by the fiber optic technique. At low pumping powers, the interwell excitons were strongly localized because of the residual charged impurities, and the corresponding photoluminescence line was nonuniformly broadened. As the laser excitation power increased, a narrow line due to delocalized excitons arose in a threshold-like manner, after which its intensity rapidly increased with growing pumping and the line itself narrowed (to a linewidth less than 1 meV) and shifted toward lower energies (by about 0.5 meV) in accordance with the filling of the lowest exciton state in the domain. An increase in temperature was accompanied by the disappearance of the line from the spectrum in a nonactivation manner. The phenomenon observed in the experiment was attributed to Bose-Einstein condensation in a quasi-two-dimensional system of interwell excitons. In the temperature interval studied (0.5–3.6) K, the critical exciton density and temperature were determined and a phase diagram outlining the exciton condensate region was constructed.     

Collective behavior of a spin-aligned gas of interwell excitons in double quantum wells

The kinetics of a spin-aligned gas of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells (n-i-n heterostructure) is studied. The temperature dependence of the spin relaxation time for excitons, in which a photoexcited electron and hole are spatially separated between two adjacent quantum wells, is analyzed. For this purpose, use was made of pulsed circularly polarized resonant photoexcitation of intrawell 1sHH excitons by a femtosecond frequency-controlled laser. A sharp increase in the spin-relaxation rate is observed for interwell excitons upon a change in temperature from 2 to 3.6 K. This effect is associated with indirect evidence of the coherence of the collective phase of interwell excitons at temperatures below the critical value.     

Interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells and their collective properties

Luminescence spectra of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells with electric-field-tilted bands (n-i-n) structures were studied. In these structures the electron and the hole in the interwell exciton are spatially separated between neighboring quantum wells by a narrow AlAs barrier. Under resonant excitation by circularly polarized light the luminescence line of the interwell excitons exhibited appreciable narrowing as their concentration increased and the degree of circular polarization of the photoluminescence increased substantially. Under resonant excitation by linearly polarized light the alignment of the interwell excitons increased as a threshold process with increasing optical pumping. By analyzing time-resolved spectra and the kinetics of the photoluminescence intensity under pulsed excitation it was established that under these conditions the rate of radiative recombination increases substantially. The observed effect occurs at below-critical temperatures and is interpreted in terms of the collective behavior of the interwell excitons. Studies of the luminescence spectra in a magnetic field showed that the collective exciton phase is dielectric and in this phase the interwell excitons retain their individual properties.     

Bose condensation of interwell excitons in double quantum wells

The luminescence of interwell excitons in double quantum wells GaAs/AlGaAs (n-i-n heterostructures) with large-scale fluctuations of random potential in the heteroboundary planes was studied. The properties of excitons whose photoexcited electron and hole are spatially separated in the neighboring quantum wells were studied as functions of density and temperature within the domains on the scale less than one micron. For this purpose, the surfaces of the samples were coated with a metallic mask containing specially prepared holes (windows) of a micron size an less for the photoexcitation and observation of luminescence. For weak pumping (less than 50 μW), the interwell excitons are strongly localized because of small-scale fluctuations of a random potential, and the corresponding photoluminescence line is inhomogeneously broadened (up to 2.5 meV). As the resonant excitation power increases, the line due to the delocalized excitons arises in a thresholdlike manner, after which its intensity linearly increases with increasing pump power, narrows (the smallest width is 350 μeV), and undergoes a shift (of about 0.5 μeV) to lower energies, in accordance with the filling of the lowest state in the domain. With a rise in temperature, this line disappears from the spectrum (T _c ≤ 3.4 K). The observed phenomenon is attributed to Bose-Einstein condensation in a quasi-two-dimensional system of interwell excitons. In the temperature range studied (1.5–3.4 K), the critical exciton density and temperature increase almost linearly with temperature.     

Localization of negatively charged excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

The localization of negatively charged excitons on isolated charged donors, located in a barrier at various fixed distances L from the heteroboundary, is investigated in isolated GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. The energy shift of the cyclotron replica in the emission spectra of a localized excitonic complex is studied as a function of L. It is shown that in undoped samples charged excitons localize on residual donors at distances L>350 Å on account of the formation of D ^? complexes at shorter distances. It is established that a cyclotron replica arises with the recombination of an excited state and not the ground state, as previously thought, of an excitonic complex.     

Exciton behavior in GaAs/AlGaAs coupled double quantum wells with interface disorder

In this work, we present a detailed study on the optical properties of two GaAs/Al_0.35Ga_0.65As coupled double quantum wells (CDQWs) with inter-well barriers of different thicknesses, by using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The two CDQWs were grown in a single sample, assuring very similar experimental conditions for measurements of both. The PL spectrum of each CDQW exhibits two recombination channels which can be accurately identified as the excitonic e₁-hh₁ transitions originated from CDQWs of different effective dimensions. The PL spectra characteristics and the behavior of the emissions as a function of temperature and excitation power are interpreted in the scenario of the bimodal interface roughness model, taking into account the exciton migration between the two regions considered in this model and the difference in the potential fluctuation levels between those two regions. The details of the PL spectra behavior as a function of excitation power are explained in terms of the competition between the band gap renormalization (BGR) and the potential fluctuation effects. The results obtained for the two CDQWs, which have different degrees of potential fluctuation, are also compared and discussed.     

Manifestation of collective properties of spatially indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs asymmetric double quantum wells

Low-temperature (T=1.8, 4.2 K) luminescence of GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As double-coupled asymmetric quantum wells (DQW) is observed under variation of an electric field V _dc applied along the normal to the DQW plane. The FWHM of the indirect exciton (IX) emission line was found to undergo, within a certain interval of V _dc, a strong (up to a factor 3.5) narrowing, accompanied by anomalously large IX intensity fluctuations in time within the V _dc region where a strong decrease (or increase) of the FWHM is observed to occur. The dependence of the FWHM on the pumping level I _p also exhibits a substantial decrease of the FWHM within a certain I _p interval. The results obtained are discussed in the frame of an assumption which relates the observed phenomena to the onset of a condensed state in the interacting ensemble of spatially indirect excitons in DQWs. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 325–329 (February 1999)     

Giant burst of the emission line intensity of spatially indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells

A study is reported on the low-temperature (T≤30 K) photoluminescence in the spatially indirect exciton line in GaAs/Al_0.33Ga_0.67As double quantum wells as a function of optical pump power and applied electric field. We have revealed a giant (threefold) burst of luminescence intensity in a part of the spectral profile of the indirect-exciton line occurring at certain values of the external electric field, temperature, and optical pumping. We have also observed that this part of the indirect-exciton line profile varies in intensity (fluctuates) with time with a characteristic period of tens of seconds. The results obtained are discussed within a model of the Bose-Einstein condensation of a system of two-dimensional bosons that have, besides the free, a discrete energy spectrum lying below the bottom of the free-state band.     

Exciton-exciton collisions and conversion of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices

The ratio of the densities of intra-and interwell excitons in a symmetric system of coupled quantum wells — a superlattice based on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure — is investigated over a wide range of optical excitation power densities. Conversion of interwell excitons into intrawell excitons as a result of exciton-exciton collisions is observed at high exciton densities. Direct evidence for such a conversion mechanism is the square-root dependence of the interwell exciton density on the optical excitation level. The decrease in the lifetime of interwell excitons with increasing excitation density, as measured directly by time-resolved spectroscopy methods, confirms the explanation proposed for the effect. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 8, 623–628 (25 April 1997)     

A diffusion anomaly in dipole-oriented two-dimensional excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum wells

Il Nuovo Cimento D - We have observed an anomaly in the low-temperature photoluminescence of dipole-oriented long-lived excitons in a coupled quantum well under an electrical bias. A discrepancy...     

High-frequency magneto-oscillations in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

We have observed very high-frequency, highly reproducible magneto-oscillations in modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structures. The oscillations are periodic in an inverse magnetic field (1/B) and their amplitude increases with temperature up to T approximately 700 mK. Being initially most pronounced around the filling factor nu=1/2, they move towards lower nu with increasing T. Front and back-gating data imply that these oscillations require a coupling to a parallel conducting layer. A comparison with existing oscillation models renders no explanation.     

Optically induced level anticrossing in undoped GaAs/AlGaAs coupled double quantum wells

We report a photoluminescence detected anticrossing of the energy levels in an undoped asymmetric coupled-double-quantum-well buried in a p-i-n structure. Due to the built-in electric field, the quantum wells are tilted in such a way that the symmetric energy level is higher than that of the antisymmetric one in the conduction band. Keeping the laser excitation energy below the barrier, with increasing laser power, the level anticrossing and the quantum confined Stark effect were observed due to decreasing built-in electric field by the photogenerated electron and hole pairs.     

Charged excitons in GaAs quantum wells

Il Nuovo Cimento D - We implement optical spectroscopy to study charged excitons (trions) in modulation-doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. We observe for the first time several new trions: the...     

Free and localized positively charged excitons in the emission spectrum of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

The recombination emission spectra of an excitonic complex (A ⁰ X) localized on a neutral acceptor, which have previously been attributed to a positively charged exciton (X ⁺), are investigated. Satellites arising around the main luminescence line as a result of recoil processes during recombination of the complex which leave the surviving hole in an excited state are observed and investigated. It is shown in a computational model based on the Luttinger Hamiltonian that the energy splittings between the main line and the satellites correspond to an in-barrier impurity center located a definite distance from the well. It is shown that as the magnetic field increases, a transition is observed from the singlet ground state of the complex to a multiplet state. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 3, 223–228 (10 August 1998)     

Photoreflectance measurements in GaAs/AlGaAs asymmetric quantum wells

In this work we investigated the optical control of the bidimensional electron gas density in a single asymmetric quantum well using, for the first time, photoreflectance. We performed our measurements at 80 and 300 K as a function of the power density of the pump beam. Under strong illumination, the bidimensional electron gas density is washed out of the quantum well and under a dark condition, it reaches its maximum value. The variation of the optical transitions observed in our photoreflectance spectra was related to the induced changes of the band profile in between these two limiting cases.