Scattering of excitons by excitons in semiconducting quantum well structures

We have theoretically investigated the scattering of excitons by excitons in a two-dimensional semiconducting quantum well system. The scattering cross sections have been calculated using the Born approximation for both the elastic and inelastic scattering of the excitons by excitons. The threshold for inelastic scattering is increased over the value in a bulk semiconductor because of the enhancement of the exciton binding energy by its confinement. The behavior of the scattering cross section as a function of the energy of relative motion of the excitons is different than in the bulk and the cross section is a more sensitive function of the ratio of the electron and hole masses than in the bulk.