OPTICALLY INDUCED POLARIZATION ROTATIONS IN CDTE CDMNTE MULTIPLE-QUANTUM WELLS/

We report large polarization state rotations of a weak pulsed beam in CdTe/CdMnTe quantum wells photoinduced by intense circularly polarized pulsed pump beam. Time-resolved analysis of the effect shows that, at moderate pump fluences, the polarization state rotation is due to the combined effect of many-body interactions and spectral hole burning a t early times and to photoinduced magnetization at longer ones. At hig her pump fluences, space filling and degenerate four-wave mixing becom e important. At low pump fluences (few mu J/cm(2)) already the polariz ation rotation photoinduced at early times can be as large as a few de grees making these multiple quantum wells potential candidates for app lications. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)0224 0-2].