Abstract
Optical nonlinear systems inevitably participate in a trade-off between sensitivity and speed so that by increasing lifetimes, sensitivity can be improved. Lengthening carrier lifetimes is possible in semiconductors by separating holes and electrons, as is well known in Nipi structures. However, large nonlinear optical effects require large charge densities which can be achieved through confinement of carriers. We combined these ideas using a unique heterostructure depletion geometry which confines electrons and removes holes. We show carrier lifetimes of 4 μs and improvements in the sensitivity of the bandfilling nonlinearity by 500 times over bulk, resulting in a measured 30% change in absorption at 4 W/cm2.
© 1989 Optical Society of America
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