Lasing from excitons in quantum wires

Abstract

Stimulated optical emission from the lowest exciton state in atomically smooth semiconductor quantum wires is observed for the first time. The wires are formed by the ssT intersection of two 7 nm GaAs quantum wells. The optical emission wavelength is nearly independent of pump levels. This absence of band-gap renormalization in the laser emission indicates a marked increase in the stability of the exciton in one dimension.