Abstract

In recent years, quantum confinement effects in semiconductor Systems with reduced space dimensions have attracted considerable attention. Enhanced optical nonlinearities have been observed in multiple quantum wells and are predicted¹⁻³ in quantum dots, i.e., semiconductor microstructures of a radius which is comparable to, or smaller than, the excitan Bohr radius in the corresponding bulk material. Semiconductor microcrystallites embedded in a glass matrix are an affordable alternative to study optical nonlinearities linked to finite size effects. This feature together with a rapid response time makes them attractive from the physics point of view and also for possible device applications.⁴

© 1990 Optical Society of America