title: Ultrafast field-resolved semiconductor spectroscopy utilizing quantum interference control of currents.
abstract: We implement a versatile concept to time-resolve optical nonlinearities of semiconductors in amplitude and phase. A probe pulse transmitted through the optically pumped sample is superimposed with first subharmonic spectral components derived from the same laser source. This effective ω/2ω pulse pair induces a coherently controlled current in a time-integrating semiconductor detector. Current interferograms obtained by scanning the ω/2ω time delay then reveal the electric field of the 2ω part as well as its pump-induced modifications. As a paradigm we analyze the excitonic optical nonlinearity of a CdTe thin film at frequencies around 385 THz. We then move on to resolve the pump-induced amplitude- and phase-distortions of a probe pulse related to two-photon absorption and cross-phase modulation in ZnSe.
authors.affiliation: Experimentelle Physik 2, TU Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruppert
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lohrenz
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thunich
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Betz