Observation of Photoinduced Terahertz Gain in GaAs Quantum Wells: Evidence for Radiative Two-Exciton-to-Biexciton Scattering

Phys Rev Lett. 2020 Oct 16;125(16):167401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.167401.

Abstract

We have observed photoinduced negative optical conductivity, or gain, in the terahertz frequency range in a GaAs multiple-quantum-well structure in a strong perpendicular magnetic field at low temperatures. The gain is narrow band: it appears as a sharp peak (linewidth <0.45 meV) whose frequency shifts with applied magnetic field. The gain has a circular-polarization selection rule: a strong line is observed for hole-cyclotron-resonance-active polarization. Furthermore, the gain appears only when the exciton 1s state is populated, which rules out intraexcitonic transitions to be its origin. Based on these observations, we propose a possible process in which the stimulated emission of a terahertz photon occurs while two free excitons scatter into one biexciton in an energy and angular-momentum conserving manner.