On the intersubband optical bistability in semiconductor quantum wells: the influence of the permanent dipole moment

Some interesting features of the intrinsic optical bistability, based on intersubband transitions in asymmetric semiconductor quantum wells, are analyzed within the two-level model. In particular, the excitation-induced levels shifting, on which the bistability relies, is found to be significantly influenced by the exchange-correlation potential, thus requiring self-consistent modeling-the simple charge separation dipole model is not accurate enough. The optical influence of the permanent dipole moment, characterizing bound states in asymmetric quantum wells, is also analyzed. This is found to have some beneficial and some adverse consequences on bistability, both of which may be quite important in realistic structures.