Abstract
Optical switching and logic devices require a large optical nonlinearity (absorptive or refractive) per absorbed photon, combined with a rapid excitation recovery time. The accumulated absorptive (or index) changes during a laser pulse are proportional to the shorter of either the pulse duration or the excitation lifetime. Optimally the two are matched, in which case the switching energy (power-time product) is determined primarily by the absorption (or refraction) cross-section; that is, the change in absorption coefficient per photogenerated carrier-pair. Any mechanism that is purported to enhance the cross-section is therefore of considerable interest. It has been suggested that the in-well screening of the piezoelectric field present in certain strained-layer quantum well structures could provide such an enhancement1.
© 1993 Optical Society of America
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