We report on nonlinear optical absorption in InGaAs/InGaAsP separate confinement multiple‐quantum‐well (SCMQW) structures based on charge‐carrier induced band bending. Carrier induced localization and related changes in absorption strength due to spatial separation of electrons and holes are utilized to design SCMQW structures with a new type of optical nonlinearity. Experimentally, we observe strong changes in optical absorption with increasing excitation power. Compared to exciton bleaching, the new nonlinearity dominates at low carrier densities.

Topics
Electronic transport, Excitons, Optical absorption, Quantum wells, Optical nonlinearities
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© 1994 American Institute of Physics.
1994
American Institute of Physics
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