SHAPING OF THE SHOCK PULSE TRANSMITTED BY A HIGH-QUALITY QUANTUM-WELL

For recently available low-dimensional semiconductor structures of hig h quality, the radiative decay is an important mechanism which determi nes the lifetime of electronic excitations. We develop the microscopic theory of the linear response of a semiconductor quantum well to puls ed laser excitation under the condition that the homogeneous broadenin g of the exciton is dominated by radiative recombination. A strong tim e-domain sharpening of the transmitted pulse and a high reflection are predicted for strongly asymmetrical incident pulses with a sharp fron t. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.