Femtosecond coherent control of absorption and free induction decay in a GaAs multiple quantum well

Abstract

Excitonic polarizations are coherently excited using two phase-locked pulses. By probing the linear propagation of the pulses through a GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well sample, we directly demonstrate the intriguing interaction between the coherent exciton polarizations and the controlling pulses. It is shown that the second pulse can be either strongly amplified by taking up energy gained from the destruction of the exciton polarization or drastically decreased by giving up all its energy to excitons. The temporal signatures of the transmitted pulse shapes agree well with model calculations.