Ultrafast excitonic nonlinearities in ion-implanted InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells

Summary form only given. We have realized an ultrafast saturable absorber by implantation of energetic ions in an InGaAs-InAlAs multiple quantum well structure. This constitutes an efficient way for introducing a controllable concentration of efficient traps, in order to control the carrier lifetime while preserving the excitonic properties of the quantum wells. A further advantage of this approach is that the ion implantation can be realized as one of the very last steps in the fabrication process. The integration of this tailored nonlinear material in guided-wave or optical microcavity devices should result in high-speed, compact, all optical switches, with low switching energies. Modeling of such devices based on the present experimental results will be discussed.