Influence of bound and unbound electron-hole-pair populations on the excitonic luminescence in semiconductor quantum wells

TL;DR

This paper develops a microscopic theory to analyze how bound and unbound electron-hole pairs influence excitonic luminescence in semiconductor quantum wells, emphasizing the importance of considering both for accurate spectral interpretation.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive microscopic framework for spontaneous emission in semiconductors, specifically applied to quantum wells, and discusses the validity of various approximations.

Findings

Both excitonic and unbound electron-hole pairs significantly affect emission spectra.

Accurate spectral analysis requires simultaneous absorption and emission measurements.

Numerical solutions align with experimental conditions.

Abstract

A fully microscopic theory for the spontaneous emission from semiconductors is discussed. The theory is evaluated for a quantum-well system and the role of excitonic and unbound electron-hole-pair contributions to the emission is analyzed. Simplifying aproximations to the full theory and their range of validity are discussed. Numerical solutions are presented for experimentally relevant situations and it is shown that a detailed analysis of measured spectra requires the knowledge of both absorption and emission under identical conditions.