We demonstrate the coherent destruction of photogenerated excitons in
semiconductor quantum wells within a few hundred femtoseconds of their
excitation. Coherent control of carrier dynamics is achieved with pha
se-locked pairs of 100 fs infrared pulses. The technique induces an op
tical response which is faster than the inverse of the exciton linewid
th superseding Fourier limits for a single pulse. Energy selectivity e
nables the coherent transfer of angular momentum between hole states.
Such phase-tailored pulse trains can be utilized to investigate the ge
neration process and intermediate virtual states in quantum structures
.