Two-photon-induced photoconductivity enhancement in semiconductor microcavities: a theoretical investigation

Abstract

We describe a detailed theoretical investigation of two-photon absorption photoconductivity in semiconductor microcavities. We show that high enhancement (by a factor of >10,000) of the nonlinear response can be obtained as a result of the microcavity effect. We discuss in detail the design and performance (dynamic range, speed) of such a device with the help of the example of an AlGaAs/GaAs microcavity operating at 900 nm. This device shows promise for low-intensity, fast autocorrelation and demultiplexing applications.