Localization and interaction of indirect excitons in GaAs coupled quantum wells (original) (raw)

Trapping Indirect Excitons in a GaAs Quantum-Well Structure with a Diamond-Shaped Electrostatic Trap

Physical Review Letters, 2009

We report on the principle and realization of a new trap for excitons -the diamond electrostatic trap -which uses a single electrode to create a confining potential for excitons. We also create elevated diamond traps which permit evaporative cooling of the exciton gas. We observe collection of excitons towards the trap center with increasing exciton density. This effect is due to screening of disorder in the trap by the excitons. As a result, the diamond trap behaves as a smooth parabolic potential which realizes a cold and dense exciton gas at the trap center. PACS numbers: 73.63.Hs, 78.67.De

Kinetics of indirect excitons in an optically induced trap in GaAs quantum wells

Physical Review B, 2007

We report on the kinetics of a low-temperature gas of indirect excitons in the optically-induced exciton trap. The excitons in the region of laser excitation are found to rapidly -within 4 ns -cool to the lattice temperature T = 1.4 K, while the excitons at the trap center are found to be coldessentially at the lattice temperature -even during the excitation pulse. The loading time of excitons to the trap center is found to be about 40 ns, longer than the cooling time yet shorter than the lifetime of the indirect excitons. The observed time hierarchy is favorable for creating a dense and cold exciton gas in optically-induced traps and for in situ control of the gas by varying the excitation profile in space and time before the excitons recombine.

Modulation optical spectroscopy of excitons in structures with GaAs multiple quantum wells separated by tunneling-nontransparent barriers

Semiconductors, 2007

Contactless optical electroreflectance measurements at different temperatures are used to study exciton states in a structure involving a periodic system of 36 GaAs quantum wells separated by tunneling-nontransparent AlGaAs barriers with thickness 104 nm. In the structure, the width of 32 of the quantum wells is 15 nm, while the width of the remaining four quantum wells, numbered 5, 14, 23, and 32, is 20 nm. The periodicity of the structure corresponds to the Bragg interference condition at the excitonic frequency in quantum wells at the angle of incidence of light ~43 °. From the quantitative analysis of the shape of the contactless electroreflectance line, the parameters of the exciton ground states and excited states are determined for both types of quantum wells. It is established that, for the system of four 20-nm-wide quantum wells separated by a distance of 830 nm, the size-quantization energy in the ground state is 8.4 ± 0.1 meV, and the parameter of broadening of the excitonic peak is 1.8 ± 0.1 meV at 17 K and increases with temperature up to 2.0 ± 0.1 meV at 80 K. For the system of 32 wells with the width 15 nm, the quantum confinement energy in the ground state is 14.9 ± 0.1 meV, and the parameter of broadening of the excitonic peak is 2.2 ± 0.1 and 2.6 ± 0.1 meV at 17 and 80 K, respectively. The possible causes of radiative and nonradiative broadening of exciton states in the systems are discussed.

Indirect Excitons in Elevated Traps

Nano Letters, 2009

We report on the study of indirect excitons in elevated traps. The transition from a normal to elevated trap results in the appearance of narrow lines in the emission spectrum. The density, temperature, and voltage dependences indicate that these lines correspond to the emission of individual states of indirect excitons in a disorder potential in the elevated trap.

Optical investigation of biexcitons and bound excitons in GaAs quantum wells

Physical Review B, 1988

The photoluminescence spectra from a number of high-quality GaAs single-quantum-well samples grown by molecular-beam epitaxy reveal a doublet emission having an energy separation of-1.25 meV. A similar doublet was observed in a sample for which the interrupted growth technique was used. Using excitation-intensity-dependent luminescence and time-resolved spectroscopy,~e will show that the lower-energy components of these doublets have diN'erent origins in di6'erent samples and can be attributed either to biexcitons or to impurity-bound excitons. Using low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) from a number of high-quality GaAs multiple-quantum-well samples grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE), Miller and co-workers'2 first reported a double peak whose splitting was-1 meV. The high-energy peak was attributed to the n 1 heavy-hole-free-exciton transition. Based on the excitation intensity, temperature, and polarization dependencies of the lower-energy peak, they concluded that this transition was due to biexcitons with a binding

Charged exciton dynamics in GaAs quantum wells

Physical Review B, 1998

We study the dynamics of the charged and neutral excitons in a modulation-doped GaAs quantum well by time-resolved photoluminescence under a resonant excitation. The radiative lifetime of the charged exciton is found to be surprisingly short, 60 ps. This time is temperature independent between 2 and 10 K, and increases by a factor of 2 at 6 T. We discuss our findings in view of present theories of exciton radiative decay.