Exciton-Population Inversion and Terahertz Gain in Resonantly Excited Semiconductors

The build-up of exciton populations in resonantly laser excited semiconductors is studied microscopically. For excitation at the $2s$-exciton resonance, it is shown that polarization with a strict $s$-type radial symmetry can be efficiently converted into an incoherent $p$-type population. As a consequence, inversion between the $2p$ and $1s$ exciton states can be obtained leading to the appearance of significant terahertz gain.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Non-equilibrium dynamics in the dual-wavelength operation of Vertical external-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Microscopic many-body theory coupled to Maxwell's equation is used to investigate dual-wavelength operation in vertical external-cavity surface-emitting lasers. The intrinsically dynamic nature of coexisting emission wavelengths in semiconductor lasers is associated with characteristic non-equilibrium carrier dynamics which causes significant deformations of the quasi-equilibrium gain and carrier inversion. Extended numerical simulations are employed to efficiently investigate the parameter space to identify the regime for two-wavelength operation. Using a frequency selective intracavity etalon, two families of modes are stabilized with dynamical interchange of the strongest emission peaks. For this operation mode, anti-correlated intensity noise is observed in agreement with the experiment. A method using effective frequency selective filtering is suggested for stabilization genuine dual-wavelength output.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure