Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Quantum Electronics

Superfluorescence in semiconductor lasers

Petr P Vasil'ev

Published Oct 31, 1997• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An analysis is made of the conditions for the generation of superfluorescence pulses in an inverted medium of electron—hole pairs in a semiconductor. It is shown that strong optical amplification in laser semiconductor amplifiers characterised by α L ≫ 1 (α is the small-signal gain and L is the amplifier length) leads to suppression of phase relaxation of the medium during the initial stages of evolution of superfluorescence and to formation of a macroscopic dipole from electron—hole pairs. Cooperative emission of radiation in this system results in generation of a powerful ultrashort pulse of the optical gain, which interacts coherently with the semiconductor medium. It is shown that coherent pulsations of the optical field, observed earlier by the author in Q -switched semiconductor lasers, are the result of superfluorescence and of the coherent interaction between the optical field and the medium.

DOI
10.1070/qe1997v027n10abeh001069

Related papers

Coherent Amplification of Continuous Laser Field via Superfluorescence

K. Kitano, H. Maeda

Superfluorescence (SF) is collective spontaneous emission wherein radiators spontaneously synchronize, resulting in an intense single-pulse emission. The avalanche radiation of photons is initiated by the first photon emitted into the SF propagation mode. Because this process is stochastic, the absolute phase of the SF changes randomly from shot to shot. We demonstrate that this phase can be controlled by seeding the SF with a resonant continuous-wave (CW) laser. The seed light was weak enough not to cause the stimulated emission but strong enough to inject the first photon into the SF propagation mode prior to injection by the radiators themselves. Cross-correlation measurements between the seeded SF and CW laser revealed that the seed light was coherently amplified by the SF. The amplification factor for the instantaneous intensity was estimated to be 7 orders of magnitude. These results will pave the way for the development of new types of quantum optical amplifiers.

Physical Review Letters•Feb 12, 2024•3 citations

Influence of superfluorescence on the operation of lasers with dye amplifiers

N M Narovlyanskaya, Eugene A. Tikhonov

An investigation was made of a longitudinally pumped laser-single-pass dye amplifier system with a view to optimizing the total conversion efficiency. It was shown that competition between two processes–amplification of the external signal and of the spontaneous noise–determines the total efficiency of conversion of the pump into useful signal. The superfluorescence restricts the maximum gain and conversion efficiency of small external signals, as does the saturation by the signal being amplified in the case of large external signals. A quantitative analysis was made of the choice of optimal optical density of the amplifier and of the competition between two coupled waves in a nonlinearly amplifying medium.

Soviet Journal of Quantum Electronics•Feb 28, 1978•2 citations

Superfluorescence from photoexcited semiconductor quantum wells: Magnetic field, temperature, and excitation power dependence

Kankan Cong, Yongrui Wang, Ji‐Hee Kim +4 more

Superfluorescence (SF) is a many-body process in which a macroscopic polarization spontaneously builds up from an initially incoherent ensemble of excited dipoles and then cooperatively decays, producing a delayed pulse of coherent radiation. SF arising from electron-hole recombination has recently been observed in ${\mathrm{In}}_{0.2}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{0.8}\mathrm{As}/\mathrm{GaAs}$ quantum wells [G. T. Noe et al., Nature Phys. 8, 219 (2012) and J.-H. Kim et al., Sci. Rep. 3, 3283 (2013)], but its observability conditions have not been fully established. Here, by performing magnetic field $(B)$, temperature $(T)$, and pump power $(P)$ dependent studies of SF intensity, linewidth, and delay time through time-integrated and time-resolved magnetophotoluminescence spectroscopy, we have mapped out the $B\ensuremath{-}T\ensuremath{-}P$ region in which SF is observable. In general, SF can be observed only at sufficiently low temperatures, sufficiently high magnetic fields, and sufficiently high laser powers with characteristic threshold behavior. We provide theoretical insights into these behaviors based primarily on considerations on how the growth rate of macroscopic coherence depends on these parameters. These results provide fundamental new insight into electron-hole SF, highlighting the importance of Coulomb interactions among photogenerated carriers as well as various scattering processes that are absent in SF phenomena in atomic and molecular systems.

Physical Review B•Jun 29, 2015•24 citations

Quantum theory of superfluorescence based on two-point correlation functions

Andrei Benediktovitch, Vinay Pramod Majety, Nina Rohringer

Irradiation of a medium by short intense pulses from x-ray (XUV) free-electron lasers can result in saturated photoionization of inner electronic shells. As a result an inversion of populations between core levels appears. The resulting fluorescent radiation can be amplified during its propagation through the inverted medium and results in intense, quasi-transform-limited radiation bursts. While the optical counterpart of this phenomena, known as superfluorescence, was intensively investigated, a generalized treatment is needed in the x-ray (XUV) domain, where the dynamics of pumping and evolution due to fast decay processes play a crucial role. To provide a general theoretical approach, we start from the fundamental, quantized minimal coupling Hamiltonian of light-matter interaction and after a series of approximations arrive at a closed system of equations for the two-point correlation function of atomic coherences and the two-time correlation function of the emitted field. The obtained formalism enables us to investigate collective spontaneous emission in various regimes. It is extended consistently to include incoherent processes that are relevant in the x-ray (XUV) domain. These processes are introduced into the formalism by corresponding Lindblad superoperators. The connection to other approaches is discussed and numerical examples related to recent experiments are presented.

arXiv:1810.12280•Physical Review A•Jan 22, 2019•24 citations

Cooperative recombination of electron-hole pairs in semiconductor quantum wells under quantizing magnetic fields

Young-Dahl Jho, X. Wang, David H. Reitze +5 more

We present results of detailed investigations of light emission from semiconductor multiple quantum wells at low temperatures and high magnetic fields excited by intense femtosecond laser pulses. The intensity and linewidth as well as the directional and statistical properties of photoemission strongly depended on the magnetic field strength and pump laser fluence. We also investigated the effects of spot size, temperature, excitation geometry, and excitation pulse width on the emission properties. The results suggest that the initially incoherent photoexcited electron-hole pairs spontaneously form a macroscopic coherent state upon relaxation into the low-lying magnetoexcitonic states, followed by the emission of a superfluorescent burst of radiation. We have developed a theoretical model for superfluorescent emission from semiconductor quantum wells, which successfully explained the observed characteristics.

Physical Review B•Apr 19, 2010•29 citations

Nonlinear optical effects in spontaneous and stimulated emission from excited two-band intrinsic semiconductor

Vladislav Cheltsov

The basic results of theoretical nonperturbative analysis of spontaneous and stimulated emission from two-band excited intrinsic semiconductor interacting with a single mode of radiation field in a lossless micro-cavity are presented. The self-consistent dynamics of the coupled system ''semiconductor + single mode radiation field", accompanied with spontaneous and stimulated emission was investigated as dependent of the initial level of the excitation of semiconductor in the presence initially of the physical field vacuum. Calculations have been carried out with the help of the commutation version of the evolution method without introducing explicitly the phonon mechanisms. The initial non-equilibrium electron and hole populations in the bands have been supposed to be created by ultra-short laser pulses and described by the Fermi-Dirac quasi-equilibrium distributions with the given chemical potentials. The interaction between the electron-hole subsystem and the mode field has been adopted to be switched on suddenly. The calculations have shown that depending on the initial excitation level of electron-hole subsystem three states of the mode field are realized: the equilibrium Bose-Einstein photon distribution with nonzero chemical potential; the quasi-equilibrium distribution with the average number of photons equal to unit and accompanied with their fluctuations, and finally, the state of photon avalanche. The first regime takes the place when the coefficient of the light amplification is negative. Then, the equilibrium between the electron-hole subsystem and arising photons exists until the average number reaches the unit. For negative and =1 the equilibrium still exists but is accompanied with field fluctuations. Finally, when the steady growth arises the lower but stable values are established

International Conference on Laser and Fiber-Optical Networks Modeling•Dec 22, 2005•1 citation
An analysis is made of the conditions for the generation of superfluorescence pulses in an inverted medium of electron—hole pairs in a semiconductor. It is shown that strong optical amplification in laser semiconductor amplifiers characterised by α L ≫ 1 (α is the small-signal gain and L is the amplifier length) leads to suppression of phase relaxation of the medium during the initial stages of evolution of superfluorescence and to formation of a macroscopic dipole from electron—hole pairs. Cooperative emission of radiation in this system results in generation of a powerful ultrashort pulse of the optical gain, which interacts coherently with the semiconductor medium. It is shown that coherent pulsations of the optical field, observed earlier by the author in Q -switched semiconductor lasers, are the result of superfluorescence and of the coherent interaction between the optical field and the medium.
Superfluorescence (SF) is collective spontaneous emission wherein radiators spontaneously synchronize, resulting in an intense single-pulse emission. The avalanche radiation of photons is initiated by the first photon emitted into the SF propagation mode. Because this process is stochastic, the absolute phase of the SF changes randomly from shot to shot. We demonstrate that this phase can be controlled by seeding the SF with a resonant continuous-wave (CW) laser. The seed light was weak enough not to cause the stimulated emission but strong enough to inject the first photon into the SF propagation mode prior to injection by the radiators themselves. Cross-correlation measurements between the seeded SF and CW laser revealed that the seed light was coherently amplified by the SF. The amplification factor for the instantaneous intensity was estimated to be 7 orders of magnitude. These results will pave the way for the development of new types of quantum optical amplifiers.
An investigation was made of a longitudinally pumped laser-single-pass dye amplifier system with a view to optimizing the total conversion efficiency. It was shown that competition between two processes–amplification of the external signal and of the spontaneous noise–determines the total efficiency of conversion of the pump into useful signal. The superfluorescence restricts the maximum gain and conversion efficiency of small external signals, as does the saturation by the signal being amplified in the case of large external signals. A quantitative analysis was made of the choice of optimal optical density of the amplifier and of the competition between two coupled waves in a nonlinearly amplifying medium.
Superfluorescence (SF) is a many-body process in which a macroscopic polarization spontaneously builds up from an initially incoherent ensemble of excited dipoles and then cooperatively decays, producing a delayed pulse of coherent radiation. SF arising from electron-hole recombination has recently been observed in In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs{\mathrm{In}}_{0.2}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{0.8}\mathrm{As}/\mathrm{GaAs}In0.2​Ga0.8​As/GaAs quantum wells [G. T. Noe et al., Nature Phys. 8, 219 (2012) and J.-H. Kim et al., Sci. Rep. 3, 3283 (2013)], but its observability conditions have not been fully established. Here, by performing magnetic field (B)(B)(B), temperature (T)(T)(T), and pump power (P)(P)(P) dependent studies of SF intensity, linewidth, and delay time through time-integrated and time-resolved magnetophotoluminescence spectroscopy, we have mapped out the $B\ensuremath{-}T\ensuremath{-}P$ region in which SF is observable. In general, SF can be observed only at sufficiently low temperatures, sufficiently high magnetic fields, and sufficiently high laser powers with characteristic threshold behavior. We provide theoretical insights into these behaviors based primarily on considerations on how the growth rate of macroscopic coherence depends on these parameters. These results provide fundamental new insight into electron-hole SF, highlighting the importance of Coulomb interactions among photogenerated carriers as well as various scattering processes that are absent in SF phenomena in atomic and molecular systems.
Irradiation of a medium by short intense pulses from x-ray (XUV) free-electron lasers can result in saturated photoionization of inner electronic shells. As a result an inversion of populations between core levels appears. The resulting fluorescent radiation can be amplified during its propagation through the inverted medium and results in intense, quasi-transform-limited radiation bursts. While the optical counterpart of this phenomena, known as superfluorescence, was intensively investigated, a generalized treatment is needed in the x-ray (XUV) domain, where the dynamics of pumping and evolution due to fast decay processes play a crucial role. To provide a general theoretical approach, we start from the fundamental, quantized minimal coupling Hamiltonian of light-matter interaction and after a series of approximations arrive at a closed system of equations for the two-point correlation function of atomic coherences and the two-time correlation function of the emitted field. The obtained formalism enables us to investigate collective spontaneous emission in various regimes. It is extended consistently to include incoherent processes that are relevant in the x-ray (XUV) domain. These processes are introduced into the formalism by corresponding Lindblad superoperators. The connection to other approaches is discussed and numerical examples related to recent experiments are presented.
We present results of detailed investigations of light emission from semiconductor multiple quantum wells at low temperatures and high magnetic fields excited by intense femtosecond laser pulses. The intensity and linewidth as well as the directional and statistical properties of photoemission strongly depended on the magnetic field strength and pump laser fluence. We also investigated the effects of spot size, temperature, excitation geometry, and excitation pulse width on the emission properties. The results suggest that the initially incoherent photoexcited electron-hole pairs spontaneously form a macroscopic coherent state upon relaxation into the low-lying magnetoexcitonic states, followed by the emission of a superfluorescent burst of radiation. We have developed a theoretical model for superfluorescent emission from semiconductor quantum wells, which successfully explained the observed characteristics.
The basic results of theoretical nonperturbative analysis of spontaneous and stimulated emission from two-band excited intrinsic semiconductor interacting with a single mode of radiation field in a lossless micro-cavity are presented. The self-consistent dynamics of the coupled system ''semiconductor + single mode radiation field", accompanied with spontaneous and stimulated emission was investigated as dependent of the initial level of the excitation of semiconductor in the presence initially of the physical field vacuum. Calculations have been carried out with the help of the commutation version of the evolution method without introducing explicitly the phonon mechanisms. The initial non-equilibrium electron and hole populations in the bands have been supposed to be created by ultra-short laser pulses and described by the Fermi-Dirac quasi-equilibrium distributions with the given chemical potentials. The interaction between the electron-hole subsystem and the mode field has been adopted to be switched on suddenly. The calculations have shown that depending on the initial excitation level of electron-hole subsystem three states of the mode field are realized: the equilibrium Bose-Einstein photon distribution with nonzero chemical potential; the quasi-equilibrium distribution with the average number of photons equal to unit and accompanied with their fluctuations, and finally, the state of photon avalanche. The first regime takes the place when the coefficient of the light amplification is negative. Then, the equilibrium between the electron-hole subsystem and arising photons exists until the average number reaches the unit. For negative and =1 the equilibrium still exists but is accompanied with field fluctuations. Finally, when the steady growth arises the lower but stable values are established