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Nonlinear Optics

Coherent all-optical polarization switching in quantum wells

Eric J. Gansen, K. Jarašiūnas, Scot A. Hawkins, Martin J. Stevens, Arthur L. Smirl

Published Jan 1, 2000• 0 citations
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Abstract

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 80K using only 10 wells. The results are compared to a similar switch, which makes use of electron spin.

DOI
10.1364/nlo.2000.tub9

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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 80K using only 10 wells. The results are compared to a similar switch, which makes use of electron spin.
Electron-spin relaxation has been investigated in a variety of quantum confined structures including GaAs-based quantum wells and quantum wires as well as InP-based quantum wells, and it has been shown to exhibit ultrafast relaxation in the picosecond, and even in the femtosecond, range. This ultrafast relaxation has been used together with the exciton absorption nonlinearity as an novel principle of all-optical switching device which can avoid the speed limit due to the slow carrier lifetime in conventional switching devices. Experiments on GaAs-based quantum-well spin switches have shown 4-ps gate switch operation. Also, experimental analyses have shown the feasibility of these devices at a high contrast ratio (13 dB) and high repetition rate (40 GHz). The application of this device to a demultiplexer has been proposed.
By using a circularly polarized pulse that is tuned well below resonance, we create a virtual population of spin-polarized coherent excitons in a GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well, and we study its effects on the polarization state of a weak signal pulse using a combination of time-resolved and spectrally resolved ellipsometric techniques. From these data the polarization state contributions to an all-optical polarization switch, which exhibits a ~415 fs switching time and large contrast ratios, are identified and the performance of the switch is demonstrated.