Stark effect on absorption of CdZnSSe-ZnSSe quantum wells

We present the measurements of room-temperature electroabsorption in CdZnSSe-ZnSSe semiconductor quantum wells that exhibit prominent excitonic absorption peaks in the wavelength region around 500 nm. The electroabsorption of these wide-band-gap quantum welts primarily stems from ionization of the room temperature excitons. Despite the large exciton linewidths in these structures, the magnitudes of field-induced absorption changes and absorption contrasts are sufficient for pragmatic applications in optical information processing systems in the blue-green spectral range.