Abstract

We consider an intrinsic semiconductor medium subject to an injection current, an arbitrarily intense electromagnetic wave, and one or two non-saturating waves. We assume that the saturating wave intensity is constant throughout the interaction region and ignore transverse variations. We further assume that the carrier–carrier scattering is sufficiently fast that the carriers are described approximately by Fermi-Dirac distributions. We find that the probe-wave propagation is described by Beer’s law or coupled-mode equations. These equations are determined by a Fourier expansion technique highly developed for two-level atoms. The absorption and coupling coefficients experience asymmetric dips generated by pump scattering off carrier-density pulsations induced by the pump–probe interference. These effects are reminiscent of coherent-dip phenomena well-known in two-level systems but differ significantly in form.

© 1988 Optical Society of America