Elastic scattering of light from quantum-well exciton-polarization fluctuations in a microcavity

A model of exciton polarization fluctuations in a quantum well of a randomly variable lateral width is proposed. The stochastic part of the nonlocal susceptibility of quasi-two-dimensional excitons is expressed through random functions of the shape of quantum well boundaries. A theory of elastic light scattering from a quantum well placed in a Fabry-Perot cavity or a semiconductor microcavity is constructed in the lowest (Born) approximation in interface roughness height. The scattering cross section is calculated for an arbitrary statistics of interface roughness. The spectral and angular dependences of the intensity of light scattered by a quantum well have been studied using Gaussian correlation functions of the interface shape. It follows from numerical estimates that elastic resonant scattering in quantum wells should be observed at an rms roughness height of the order of the atomic monolayer thickness.