Future Trends in Microelectronics: Up the Nano Creek

Quantum Control of the Dynamics of a Semiconductor Quantum Well

E. Paspalakis, M. Tsaousidou

Materials Science Department, University of Patras, Patras 26504, Greece

A. F. Terzis

Department of Physics, University of Patras, Patras 26504, Greece

1.   Introduction

In recent years, the potential for coherent control of the electron dynamics in semiconductor quantum wells (QWs) that internet with strong oscillating electric fields has been a topic of increasing interest. In many studies the description of the intersubband transition dynamics has been based on atomic-like multi-level theoretical approaches. However, in a quantum well the many-body effects due to the macroscopic carrier density play a significant role and make the system behave quite differently from a simple noninteracting atomic-like system. These many-body effects have been studied in a significant number of theoretical papers.^1–14 where it has been shown that the optical response and the electron dynamics of QWs can be dramatically influenced by varying the carrier density.

In the present chapter, we examine the intersubband transition dynamics of a symmetric double quantum well (DQW), where the ground and the first excited states are coupled by a strong pulsed or a continuous wave (cw) electric field. The system dynamics can be described by the effective nonlinear Bloch equations (NBEs) derived recently by Olaya-Castro et al.¹¹ The nonlinearities in these equations arise from the electron-electron interactions. ...