Quantum Interference Control of Photocurrents in Semiconductors by Nonlinear Optical Absorption Processes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates quantum interference control of photocurrents in semiconductors using nonlinear optical absorption processes, specifically analyzing how incident field intensities and phases influence injection currents in AlGaAs.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental approach to control photocurrents via quantum interference between multi-photon absorption processes in semiconductors.

Findings

Injection current depends on the interference of 2- and 3-photon absorption processes.

The current varies with the intensities and phases of the incident optical fields.

Experimental validation in AlGaAs shows potential for optical control of electronic properties.

Abstract

We report experiments demonstrating Quantum Interference Control (QuIC) based on two nonlinear optical absorption processes in semiconductors. We use two optical beams of frequencies $\omega$ and $3\omega /2$ incident on AlGaAs and measure the injection current due to the interference between 2- and 3-photon absorption processes. We analyze the dependence of the injection current on the intensities and phases of the incident fields.