Optical Coherent Control Induced by an Electric Field in a Semiconductor: A New Manifestation of the Franz-Keldysh Effect

J. K. Wahlstrand, H. Zhang, S. B. Choi, S. Kannan, D. S. Dessau, J. E. Sipe, and S. T. Cundiff
Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 247404 – Published 17 June 2011

Abstract

In (100)-oriented GaAs illuminated at normal incidence by a laser and its second harmonic, interference between one- and two-photon absorption results in ballistic current injection, but not modulation of the overall carrier injection rate. Results from a pump-probe experiment on a transversely biased sample show that a constant electric field enables coherent control of the carrier injection rate. We ascribe this to the nonlinear optical Franz-Keldysh effect and calculate it for a two-band parabolic model. The mechanism is relevant to centrosymmetric semiconductors as well.

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  • Received 27 June 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.247404

© 2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. K. Wahlstrand1,*, H. Zhang1,2, S. B. Choi1, S. Kannan1,3, D. S. Dessau1,3, J. E. Sipe1,†, and S. T. Cundiff1,2,3

  • 1JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
  • 2Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA

  • *Present address: Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
  • Permanent address: Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S1A7.

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Vol. 106, Iss. 24 — 17 June 2011

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