An optical modulation technique has been used to observe the electromo
dulation of photoluminescence in single and multiple quantum wells. It
is shown that this photomodulated photoluminescence technique can yie
ld similar information to that obtained from electroabsorption and pho
toabsorption experiments but, because it does not require special samp
le geometry or sample preparation, it is easier to implement, especial
ly in the case of samples grown on nontransparent substrates.