Quantum wells for femtosecond optoelectronics applications

The ultrafast nonlinear optical properties of quantum well excitons have been studied extensively in recent years. Quantum well excitons, which are sharp and well-resolved at room temperature, are well suited to optoelectronics applications, having large electroabsorption response. In this review, we discuss experiments which use simultaneously the nonlinear optical response of the quantum well exciton and the electroabsorption response in order to characterize electrical signals in the femtosecond time scale. In addition, we discuss intrinsic speed limitations in excitonic optoelectronics and extensions to one- and two-dimensional spatiotemporal field mapping.