Intersubband optical absorption in two-level quantum wells embedded in a planar microcavity

A theoretical analysis of the optical absorption including both the linear and third-order non-linearity arising from intersubband transitions in two-level quantum wells, which are embedded in a planar microcavity, has been performed. Starting from the Maxwell–Lorentz equations, the expressions of the field in each layer are explicitly given, and the field in the quantum wells is determined via an integral equation, in which the third-order non-linearity is included. Then, by matching the boundary conditions, the field in the quantum-well microcavity structure is rigorously determined, and the absorption coefficient is thus obtained. Detailed numerical calculations show that the optical intersubband absorption can be significantly modified due to the coupling between the quantum wells and the microcavity. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.