PICOSECOND PHOTOLUMINESCENCE OF RESONANTLY-EXCITED EXCITONS IN GAAS QUANTUM-WELLS

Abstract

We show that the initial dynamics of resonantly-excited excitons in quantum wells is controlled by several processes such as radiative recombination, spin relaxation of excitons, electrons and holes, and scattering between different in-plane momentum states of excitons. We present a unified analysis of the results, which provides quantitative information about these important rates, and a good physical understanding of the initial dynamics of nonequilibrium excitons. In particular, we show that the enhanced radiative recombination rate of excitons makes an important contribution to the early decay of the photoluminescence.