Origin of the inner ring in photoluminescence patterns of quantum well excitons

In order to explain and model the inner ring in photoluminescence (PL) patterns of indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (QWs), we develop a microscopic approach formulated in terms of coupled nonlinear equations for the diffusion, thermalization and optical decay of the particles. The origin of the inner ring is unambiguously identified: it is due to cooling of indirect excitons in their propagation from the excitation spot. We infer that in our high-quality structures the in-plane diffusion coefficient is about 10-30cm^2/s and the amplitude of the disorder potential is about 0.45meV.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Theory of condensation of indirect excitons in a trap

We present theoretical studies of condensation of indirect excitons in a trap. Our model quantifies the effect of screening of the trap potential by indirect excitons on exciton condensation. The theoretical studies are applied to a system of indirect excitons in a GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum well structure in a diamond-shaped electrostatic trap where exciton condensation was studied in earlier experiments. The estimated condensation temperature of the indirect excitons in the trap reaches hundreds of milliKelvin

Pattern Formation as a Signature of Quantum Degeneracy in a Cold Exciton System

The development of a Turing instability to a spatially modulated state in a photoexcited electron-hole system is proposed as a novel signature of exciton Bose statistics. We show that such an instability, which is driven by kinetics of exciton formation, can result from stimulated processes that build up near quantum degeneracy. In the spatially uniform 2d electron-hole system, the instability leads to a triangular lattice pattern while, at an electron-hole interface, a periodic 1d pattern develops. We analyze the mechanism of wavelength selection, and show that the transition is abrupt (type I) for the uniform 2d system, and continuous (type II) for the electron-hole interface.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

The Interaction in the Macroscopically Ordered Exciton State

The macroscopically ordered exciton state (MOES) - a periodic array of beads with spatial order on a macroscopic length - appears in the external exciton rings at low temperatures below a few Kelvin. Here, we report on the experimental study of the interaction in the MOES. The exciton PL energy varies in concert with the intensity along the circumference of the ring, with the largest energy found in the brightest regions. This shows that the MOES is characterized by the repulsive interaction and is not driven by the attractive interaction.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Kinetics of Exciton Emission Patterns and Carrier Transport

We report on the measurements of the kinetics of expanding and collapsing rings in the exciton emission pattern. The rings are found to preserve their integrity during expansion and collapse, indicating that the observed kinetics is controlled by charge carrier transport rather than by a much faster process of exciton production and decay. The relation between ring kinetics and carrier transport, revealed by our experiment and confirmed by comparison with a theoretical model, is used to determine electron and hole transport characteristics in a contactless fashion.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Kinetics of indirect excitons in the optically-induced exciton trap

We report on the kinetics of a low-temperature gas of indirect excitons in the optically-induced exciton trap. The excitons in the region of laser excitation are found to rapidly -- within 4 ns -- cool to the lattice temperature T = 1.4 K, while the excitons at the trap center are found to be cold -- essentially at the lattice temperature -- even during the excitation pulse. The loading time of excitons to the trap center is found to be about 40 ns, longer than the cooling time yet shorter than the lifetime of the indirect excitons. The observed time hierarchy is favorable for creating a dense and cold exciton gas in optically-induced traps and for in situ control of the gas by varying the excitation profile in space and time before the excitons recombine.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Ring-shaped spatial pattern of exciton luminescence formed due to the hot carrier transport in a locally photoexcited electron-hole bilayer

A consistent explanation of the formation of a ring-shaped pattern of exciton luminescence in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells is suggested. The pattern consists of two concentric rings around the laser excitation spot. It is shown that the luminescence rings appear due to the in-layer transport of hot charge carriers at high photoexcitation intensity. Interestingly, one of two causes of this transport might involve self-organized criticality (SOC) that would be the first case of the SOC observation in semiconductor physics. We test this cause in a many-body numerical model by performing extensive molecular dynamics simulations. The results show good agreement with experiments. Moreover, the simulations have enabled us to identify the particular kinetic processes underlying the formation of each of these two luminescence rings.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures. Final versio