Nonlinear Interactions and Excitonic Effects in Semiconductor Quantum Wells

D. S. Chemla

Suryadi

Olesia Dmytruk, V. I. Sugakov

Moongoo Choi, Koo-Chul Je, Seung-Han Park

Eric J. Gansen, K. Jarašiūnas, Scot A. Hawkins +2 more

A coherent all-optical nonlinear polarization switch based on exciton–exciton correlations is demonstrated in a multiple-quantum-well semiconductor structure. A contrast ratio of 8:1 and a relaxation time of less than a picosecond are reported at 80 K using only ten wells. The results are compared to a simple phenomenological model to demonstrate that many-body effects are solely responsible for the switching action and that the turn-on and turn-off times are determined by the dephasing time.

J.‐Y. Bigot, Mary‐Ann Mycek, Shimon Weiss +2 more

Using a combination of interferometric-correlation and time-resolved intensity measurement techniques, we characterize the phase and amplitude of the coherent emission of semiconductor quantum wells resonantly excited by ultrashort optical pulses. We demonstrate that exciton-exciton interaction produces nonlinear phase shifts of the instantaneous frequency relative to the incident laser.