title: Extraction of many-body configurations from nonlinear absorption in semiconductor quantum wells.
abstract: Detailed electronic many-body configurations are extracted from quantitatively measured time-resolved nonlinear absorption spectra of resonantly excited GaAs quantum wells. The microscopic theory assigns the observed spectral changes to a unique mixture of electron-hole plasma, exciton, and polarization effects. Strong transient gain is observed only under cocircular pump-probe conditions and is attributed to the transfer of pump-induced coherences to the probe.
authors.affiliation: JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wahlstrand
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Funk
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Mirin
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Cundiff
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schafer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kira
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Koch