Resonant Rayleigh scattering by a quantum well: time-domain theory

Summary form only given. We investigate the roles of two length scales in the dynamics of the resonantly scattered light from a quantum well (QW); namely the scale associated with the size of the typical interface defect-or island-and that associated with spatial correlations between islands. Explicit time- and wave vector-dependent expressions for the scattered light amplitude and intensity are obtained. We find that a substantial portion of the light is scattered into nonradiative surface polariton modes, whose electromagnetic character is evanescent in the direction away from the QW.