Strong coherent gain from semiconductor microcavities in the regime of excitonic saturation

F. Quochi; C. Ciuti; G. Bongiovanni; A. Mura; M. Saba; U. Oesterle; M. A. Dupertuis; J. L. Staehli; B. Deveaud

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.59.R15594

Rapid Communication

Strong coherent gain from semiconductor microcavities in the regime of excitonic saturation

F. Quochi, C. Ciuti, G. Bongiovanni, A. Mura, M. Saba, U. Oesterle, M. A. Dupertuis, J. L. Staehli, and B. Deveaud

Phys. Rev. B 59, R15594(R) – Published 15 June 1999

Abstract

We present femtosecond gain measurements in microcavity-embedded quantum wells. When the excitonic transition is saturated by an intense pump field, the spectrum measured with a weak probe pulse is strongly modulated by pump-probe wave mixing processes. A giant probe amplification occurs within the bandwidth of the empty-cavity mode. The optical feedback provided by the microcavity is responsible for a net gain of the broadband probe pulse.