IONIZATION CROSS-SECTIONS OF EXCITONS DUE TO SCATTERING BY EXCITONS IN SEMICONDUCTING QUANTUM-WELL STRUCTURES IN THE PRESENCE OF A TRANSVERSE ELECTRIC-FIELD

We have performed theoretical calculations on the ionization cross-sec tions of excitons due to scattering by excitons in semiconducting quan tum well structures in the presence of an applied transverse electric field. It was found that for the range of incident energies higher tha n the binding energy of the excitons, the exciton-exciton ionization c ross-sections become increasingly important relative to that due to fr ee carrier-exciton scattering as the electric field increases. Quasi t hree-dimensional features in the ionization cross-sections exhibited b y the excitons in the very narrow wells are found to be rather insensi tive to changes in electric field strength. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.