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Physical Review A

Effects of off-diagonal radiative-decay coupling on electron transitions in resonant double quantum wells

Danhong Huang, David A. Cardimona

Published Jun 18, 2001• 18 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Density-matrix equations for electrons in laser-coupled quantum wells are derived in second quantization, including an off-diagonal radiative-decay coupling between a pair of electron transitions. Calculations of spontaneous photoluminescence and time-resolved optical absorption for the probe field are formulated. The zero absorption of the pump-laser field within an overlapping region between two absorption peaks is found in a resonant asymmetric double-quantum-well system and explained as the quantum interference between two nearly degenerate electron transitions. Quantum interference is clearly demonstrated through phase cancellation between the two statistically averaged transition dipole moments. The laser frequency for zero absorption can be tuned within a tunneling gap by applying a small dc bias field. The ${k}_{\ensuremath{\Vert}}$-dependent energy-level separation is found to be a crucial factor for destroying quantum interference. The optical gain of the probe field is seen as a hole in the weak absorption peak for the resonant asymmetric double quantum wells selectively coupled by a laser field and shown to be a result of the partial inversion of the electron occupation probabilities in momentum space after laser excitation. The probe-field gain increases with the strength of the pump laser. The effects of transition blocking, induced quantum coherence, and off-diagonal radiative-decay coupling are quantitatively analyzed for this gain.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.64.013822

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Density-matrix equations for electrons in laser-coupled quantum wells are derived in second quantization, including an off-diagonal radiative-decay coupling between a pair of electron transitions. Calculations of spontaneous photoluminescence and time-resolved optical absorption for the probe field are formulated. The zero absorption of the pump-laser field within an overlapping region between two absorption peaks is found in a resonant asymmetric double-quantum-well system and explained as the quantum interference between two nearly degenerate electron transitions. Quantum interference is clearly demonstrated through phase cancellation between the two statistically averaged transition dipole moments. The laser frequency for zero absorption can be tuned within a tunneling gap by applying a small dc bias field. The k\ensuremath∥{k}_{\ensuremath{\Vert}}k\ensuremath∥​-dependent energy-level separation is found to be a crucial factor for destroying quantum interference. The optical gain of the probe field is seen as a hole in the weak absorption peak for the resonant asymmetric double quantum wells selectively coupled by a laser field and shown to be a result of the partial inversion of the electron occupation probabilities in momentum space after laser excitation. The probe-field gain increases with the strength of the pump laser. The effects of transition blocking, induced quantum coherence, and off-diagonal radiative-decay coupling are quantitatively analyzed for this gain.
A many-body density-matrix theory is derived by including quasiparticle renormalization of kinetic energy and dipole coupling to an external electromagnetic field, as well as the screening and quantum-interference effects. This theory is applied to a three-level resonant asymmetric double-quantum-well system in which the ground subband is coupled to the upper tunneling-split doublet by a strong external electromagnetic field. By using this theory, the quasiparticle energy-level separations and off-diagonal radiative-decay coupling rates, absorption coefficient, refractive-index function, and scaled subband electron density are calculated as functions of incident photon energy. The effects of quasiparticle renormalization on the quantum interference between a pair of optically induced polarizations are analyzed. The quantum interference is shown to be robust against the Coulomb-interaction effect in the mean-field approximation. The roles played by the dephasing rate and electron density are explained.
We propose and analyze an efficient scheme for suppressing the absorption of a weak probe field based on intersubband transitions in a four-level asymmetric coupled-quantum well (CQW) driven coherently by a probe laser field and a control laser field. By using the numerical simulation, we find that the magnitude of the transient absorption of the probe field is smaller than the three-level system based on the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) at line center of the probe transition, moreover, comparing with the scheme in three-level asymmetric double QW system, the transparency hole of the present work is much broader. By analyzing the steady-state process analytically and numerically, our results show that the probe absorption can be completely eliminated under the condition of Raman resonance (i.e. two-photon detuning is zero). Besides, we can observe one transparency window without requiring one- or two-photon detuning exactly vanish. This investigation may provide the possible scheme for EIT in solids by using CQW.
The authors designed an asymmetric double quantum well structure with three subbands in the conduction band,and then calculated energy values of the three subbands with the effective-mass Schrodinger equation of confined electrons.In particular,the two adjacent excited subbands were correlated to wave function due to the electronic tunneling effect.A weak probe field coupling the ground subband to the two excited subbands was found to have a double-peak absorption spectrum with an in-between transparency window.Applying a DC electric field on this double quantum well structure,one may easily change the ratio of dipole moments on the two probe transitions,and then effectively manipulate relative amplitudes of the two absorption peaks and the dispersion curve in the transparency window.
This paper presents the current results of field-induced quantum interference in semiconductor quantum wells. Three-level systems with two conduction subbands in single and double quantum wells coupled by a resonant field are studied. We investigate effects of the Coulomb and field-induced electronic renormalizations of the energy subbands and steady eigenstates of electrons. The random-phase and ladder approximations have been used to calculate the linear interband and intersubband optical absorptions and refractive indices. The effect of collective dipole moment on the nonlinear susceptibility has been incorporated into the study by using a local-field approach. Lasing without population inversion, electromagnetically induced transparency, and enhanced nonlinearity with reduced absorption inside the intersubband-coupled single quantum well and dc-field coupled double quantum wells are found.
The improved density-functional theory is employed to obtain the eigenstates of electrons in an asymmetric quantum well. On the basis of calculated eigenstates, the semiconductor Bloch equations are used to calculate the transient density matrix when a pulsed intersubband laser coupling is applied to the system. The new dynamics of the individual absorption peaks is analyzed for the first time by use of a self-consistent-field theory. Based on this, the time-averaged optical spectrum is calculated to show the coherent-transition-induced quantum interference in the system. The new phenomena of probe-field amplification is observed, and the threshold laser intensity for observing it is given.
In a self-consistent field formalism we investigated the weak-probe optical intersubband response of a three-subband semiconductor quantum well pumped by a strong coherent laser beam. We showed that, when the pumping photon energy is somewhat above the energy separation between the two lowest subbands, a combination of hole-burning effects and coherent pump–probe wave interactions can lead to both optical gain without population inversion and an Autler–Townes-like doublet in the probe optical spectrum. These two absorption peaks, whose positions are blueshifted as the pump intensity is increased, are due to the two-photon absorption process and light-induced intersubband transitions between the two upper states. It is also demonstrated that, in a stepwise two-photon pumping scheme, the optical gain with population inversion can also occur in the quantum-well system when a modestly strong pump field is present.