Phase dependence of cross-phase modulation in asymmetric quantum wells

Abstract

We study the Kerr nonlinearity associated with cross-phase modulation based on electromagnetically induced transparency in asymmetric double quantum wells. It is shown that, different from atomic system, not only the nonlinear dispersion and absorption but also the linear absorption depends on the relative phase of the laser fields because of the Fano interference. By choosing the parameters appropriately, large cross-phase modulation with nearly vanishing two-photon absorption, even π phase shift with single photon level, could be achieved in the asymmetric quantum wells.