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physica status solidi (b)

Intrinsic optical intersubband bistability in quantum‐well structures: External factor effect

Victor Bondarenko

Published Jul 21, 2015• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Abstractauthoren A generalized cubic equation is presented to describe the intrinsic optical bistability (IOB) process in a two‐level system within the rotating wave approximation when repopulation of the two levels is governed not only by the incident radiation with changing intensity but also by an additional external factor (X‐factor). Numerical simulations are performed for two‐ and three‐quantum‐well (QW) systems without and within a microcavity. The obtained results demonstrate that a relatively small change of the X‐factor‐caused repopulation of the subbands (as in all QWs simultaneously as in only one selected QW) can produce a dramatic effect on the reflectance dependence upon the incident radiation intensity, in particular on the IOB pictures. It is shown that the IOB process (dubbed as the IOBX) can be driven by the cyclic change of the X‐factor‐caused repopulation of the subbands at a carefully chosen fixed value of the incident radiation intensity.

DOI
10.1002/pssb.201552259

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Abstract Abstractauthoren A generalized cubic equation is presented to describe the intrinsic optical bistability (IOB) process in a two‐level system within the rotating wave approximation when repopulation of the two levels is governed not only by the incident radiation with changing intensity but also by an additional external factor (X‐factor). Numerical simulations are performed for two‐ and three‐quantum‐well (QW) systems without and within a microcavity. The obtained results demonstrate that a relatively small change of the X‐factor‐caused repopulation of the subbands (as in all QWs simultaneously as in only one selected QW) can produce a dramatic effect on the reflectance dependence upon the incident radiation intensity, in particular on the IOB pictures. It is shown that the IOB process (dubbed as the IOBX) can be driven by the cyclic change of the X‐factor‐caused repopulation of the subbands at a carefully chosen fixed value of the incident radiation intensity.
We theoretically investigate the nonlinear intersubband response, in particular the intrinsic optical bistability (IOB), of quantum well (QW) structures embedded into layered systems. A semiclassical approach is employed based on the plane-wave approximation, the transfer-matrix formalism, the sheet model, and the density-matrix formalism developed to calculate the two-dimensional nonlinear intersubband electron conductivity and the IOB. A variety of presented numerical results demonstrate the importance of inhomogeneity of spatial distribution of radiation intensity induced by multiple radiation reflection for the IOB in layered structures. It is shown that knowing the radiation intensity distribution in the area occupied by QWs, in part standing-wave patterns, are crucial for understanding of IOB pictures. The IOB in systems of one, two, three, five, and ten QWs is investigated. The multistability phenomenon is addressed.
A system of coherently driven spatially distributed two-level atoms, coupled with each other via dipole–dipole interaction, exhibits intrinsic optical bistability (IOB) at solid-state densities,1 i.e., optical bistability without optical feedback. The origin of the IOB was shown to be due to inversion-dependent renormalization of the single-atom resonance frequency caused by dipole–dipole interaction among the atoms located mainly within an atomic resonance wavelength.2 For normally incident plane waves of intensity beyond threshold, a spatially dependent discontinuity in the nonlinear refractive index was shown to exist inside the medium,1 corresponding to spatial separation of the high and low absorption phases of the IOB. We present numerical results for the time-dependent solutions of the equations of motion and dynamics of the field propagation.
On the basis of a local-field theory, the field distribution including third-order nonlinearity in a quantum well microcavity structure is derived, and an expression of intersubband optical absorption is thus obtained. It is found that local-field corrections at certain condition can act as a positive feedback so that a bistability can be established. In a quantum well microcavity structure, by changing the length of the cavity, the angle of incidence, the field confinement and the line widths, one can effectively detune the local-field feedback so that the threshold intensity and the `S'-type loop of the optical bistability can be modified.
The dynamics of the intrinsic optical bistability (IOB) in an elementary quantum system is investigated in the situation where this system is composed of two weakly interacting subsystems. Numerical calculations have been performed for two ``real'' systems where IOB has been experimentally observed. The first situation corresponds to the electron-nuclear spin system of $\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{-}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3},$ where the transition between electron spin states exhibit a strong bistability. The other situation corresponds to optical transitions in Yb3+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{3+}Yb3+ pairs in CsCdBr3:Yb{\mathrm{CsCdBr}}_{3}:\mathrm{Yb}CsCdBr3​:Yb compound, where IOB has been experimentally observed. It is shown that, in addition to the classical hysteresis of the response of the system upon variation of the power of the external field, the observation of the so-called critical slowing down is a clear signature of IOB.
We discuss, theoretically, employing formalism based on the transfer matrix method and the so-called sheet model, the linear and nonlinear (saturated) optical phase shifts associated with intersubband transitions in multiple quantum well (MQW) structures. A commonly used total internal reflection geometry is considered. Numerical simulations are performed for two-level GaAs∕AlxGa1−xAs MQWs. They show that the above-mentioned phase shift can be greatly modified by optical interference effects and radiative coupling between QWs particularly at the grazing angle of incidence. For the restricted range of parameters even the bistable behavior of the nonlinear phase shift and reflectivity are possible.
The effect of the electrostatic Coulomb interaction on the line shape related to the intensity-dependent intersubband optical processes in a Si δ-doped quantum well is studied using the density matrix formalism. The electronic structure of the quantum well is calculated from the self-consistent numerical solution of the coupled Schrödinger–Poisson equations. The line shape function is considerably modified by the optical intensity and the electric and magnetic fields. Moreover, we demonstrate the existence of the optical bistability for appropriate values of the optical intensity and also the control of the optical bistability with the electric and magnetic fields. It is also found that the intersubband relaxation time plays an important role in determining the optical bistability region.