Abstract

Many coherent optical experiments that were originally performed on atomic or molecular systems¹ are now being performed in semiconductors.² This has been made possible by the current ready availability of lasers with pulse widths on the order of the dephasing time in semiconductors (100 fs). Because coherent phenomena can be strongly modified by many-body interactions, these experiments provide insight into the many-body physics present in semiconductors. Optically induced transient nutation, also known as Rabi flopping,^1,3 where strong resonant incident optical fields drive the excitation from the ground state to the excited state and back again, is a coherent experiment of particular interest. This interest arises due to the theoretical prediction that the flopping frequency can be strongly modified by many- body contributions.⁴

© 1995 Optical Society of America