Phase control of light propagation via Fano interference in asymmetric double quantum wells

Abstract

We investigate the light propagation and dynamical control of a weak pulsed probe field in asymmetric double quantum wells via Fano interference, which is caused by tunneling from the excited subbands to the same continuum. Our results show that the system can produce anomalous and normal dispersion regions with negligible absorption by choosing appropriate coupling strength of the tunneling and the Fano interference. Interesting enough, the dispersion can be switched between normal and anomalous by adjusting the relative phase between the pulsed probe and coherent control fields owing to the existence of the perfectly Fano interference. Thus, the relative phase can be regarded as a switch to manipulate light propagation with subluminal or superluminal. The temporal and spatial dynamics of the pulsed probe field with hyperbolic secant envelope are analyzed.