Optical nonlinear waves in semiconductor quantum dots: Solitons and breathers

Abstract

A general theory of optical resonance solitons and breathers in the presence of single-excitonic and biexcitonic transitions in an ensemble of inhomogeneously broadened semiconductor quantum dots is constructed. Optical plane wave solitons ($2\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulses) are formed in stacked layer structures (many-layered systems) of semiconductor quantum dots. Optical small-amplitude bright breathers ($0\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulses) in semiconductor quantum dot waveguides are considered. Explicit analytical expressions for the shape and parameters of the solitons and breathers in the regime of self-induced transparency are obtained as well as simulations of the space-time dynamics of two-dimensional breathers presented with realistic parameters which can be reached in current experiments. It is shown that, unlike for plane wave breathers, the parameters additionally depend on the waveguide mode. In the special case of plane wave breathers in semiconductor quantum dots, known analytical results are recovered.