Abstract

The temporal evolution of a high-density (N > 10²⁰ cm⁻³) plasma is studied in CuCl with subpicosecond accuracy, using pump and probe transmission techniques and time-resolved luminescence detection. The optical creation of the carriers leads to an instantaneous band-gap reduction and a delayed exciton bleaching. This last feature is discussed in terms of a thermal relaxation of the plasma. Pump-induced absorption and gain spectra are compared with a calculation that takes into account the screening of the carrier–longitudinal-optical phonon interaction at high densities. The same model is applied to a luminescence line-shape analysis. From the agreement between theory and experiment it is possible to determine the characteristics of the plasma at different stages of its evolution.

© 1985 Optical Society of America

Optical nonlinearity, bistability, and signal processing in semiconductors

N. Peyghambarian and H. M. Gibbs
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2(7) 1215-1227 (1985)

Room-temperature excitonic nonlinear-optical effects in semiconductor quantum-well structures

D. S. Chemla and D. A. B. Miller
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2(7) 1155-1173 (1985)

Basic mechanisms of the optical nonlinearities of semiconductors near the band edge

H. Haug and S. Schmitt-Rink
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2(7) 1135-1142 (1985)

Studies of exciton localization in quantum-well structures by nonlinear-optical techniques

J. Hegarty and M. D. Sturge
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2(7) 1143-1154 (1985)

Radiative recombination processes in wide-band-gap II–VI quantum wells: the interplay between excitons and free carriers

R. Cingolani, L. Calcagnile, G. Colí, R. Rinaldi, M. Lomoscolo, M. DiDio, A. Franciosi, L. Vanzetti, G. C. LaRocca, and D. Campi
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 13(6) 1268-1277 (1996)