Shaping of the shock pulse transmitted by a high quality quantum well

Abstract

For recently available low-dimensional semiconductor structures of high quality, the radiative decay is an important mechanism which determines the lifetime of electronic excitations. We develop the microscopic theory of the linear response of a semiconductor quantum well to pulsed laser excitation under the condition that the homogeneous broadening of the exciton is dominated by radiative recombination. A strong time-domain sharpening of the transmitted pulse and a high reflection are predicted for strongly asymmetrical incident pulses with a sharp front.