Coherent control of absorption and propagation in GaAs quantum wells; time and spectral domain studies

Recently, coherent control of exciton populations has been demonstrated through terahertz, reflection, and four-wave-mixing experiments. However, the most direct probe of exciton population control is the absorption, which has been lacking in previous studies. In this report, we probe the time evolution of exciton population directly through a transmission experiment. In particular, using upconversion technique with both narrow (spectrally broad) and broad (spectrally narrow) pulses, we can obtain both the temporal and the spectral information. The main thrust of our report is that when phase controlled, the second pulse can be either greatly enhanced or completely destroyed by gaining energy from exciton or giving all of its energy to the system, respectively.