Abstract

Excitons–bound states of electron-hole pairs–have been studied intensively in past years as a candidate for achieving Bose-Einstein condensation in a solid state system. A particular system of interest is that of spatially indirect excitons [1]. In this system, the electron and hole constituents are separated into adjacent coupled quantum wells (CQWs) by an electric field applied in the growth direction (see Fig. 1a). This configuration of optically-active dipole-orientated excitons enables control of exciton transport in the quantum well plane and an enhancement of the exciton optical lifetime. Emerging from research into the fundamental physics of CQW heterostructures is the growing possibility to utilize indirect excitons for optical device applications.

© 2013 IEEE