Abstract

We have analyzed theoretically the optical absorption saturation of semiconductor microcrystallites so small that they show strong quantum confinement in all three dimensions [quantum dots (QDs)]. We show that saturation of the lowest energy excited state becomes extremely simple to describe even including excitonic effects. Such QDs exhibit novel physical properties, including very large optical absorption per unit volume, that make QDs very attractive nonlinear media.

© 1986 Optical Society of America