Piezoelectric optical nonlinearities in strained [111] InGaAs-GaAs multiple quantum well p-i-n structures

The authors provide the first temporal and spectral resolution of the optical nonlinearities associated with the screening of the built-in fields in p-i(MQW)-n structures. Moreover, they demonstrate that the nature and magnitude of the nonlinear optical response and the carrier dynamics in such structures depend critically on the band structure and that simple changes in the band structure can make dramatic changes in both. The authors do this by embedding strained [III]-oriented InGaAs-GaAs MQWs in the intrinsic region of a p-i-n structure such that the p-i-n field opposes the piezoelectric field. They then show that, by simply doubling the barrier thickness in one of two otherwise identical p-i(MQW)-n structures, they can transform the nonlinear response associated with a blue shift into one associated with a red shift