Femtosecond pump and probe measurement of all-optical modulation based on intersubband transition in n-doped quantum wells

An all-optical modulation of interband-resonant light (near-infrared signal light: 800 nm) by intersubband-resonant light (mid-infrared control light: 4-7 mu m) in n-doped AlaAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells is investigated by two-color femtosecond pump-probe experiments at room temperature. The modulation of the near-infrared signal light with an ultrafast recovery as short as similar to 1 ps is successfully observed when the quantum wells are pumped by the mid-infrared control light pulse (similar to 4 fJ/mu m(2)). The dependence of the modulation depth on the wavelength of the control light is also measured, which is shown to be consistent with the intersubband absorption spectrum of the quantum wells. The results indicate that the utilization of the intersubband transition is promising for the ultrafast all-optical modulation and switching. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.