Trionic Gain in δ-Doped ZnSe Quantum Wells

This paper reports on the observation of optical gain due to charged excitons (trions) in quantum wells. The specific optical coupling of the trion gives rise to stimulated emission on the low-energy wing of the trion photoluminescence line without degeneracy and inversion in the total particle numbers. Gain values as large as 10⁴ cm^—1 are found for excitation intensities of a few kW/cm. Higher injection levels lead to carrier heating which limits the available gain. A calculation of the absorption-gain crossover based on a kinetically determined equilibrium of excitons, trions and electrons with a common carrier gas temperature describes the experimental data well.