Influences of control coherence and decay coherence on optical bistability in a semiconductor quantum well

We discuss the influences of two different types of mechanisms of quantum coherence on optical bistability in a semiconductor quantum well structure. In the first mechanism, only quantum coherence induced by the resonant coupling of a strong control laser is considered. In the second mechanism, the decay coherence is taken into account under the condition where the control field is weak. In two different cases, optical bistability can be obtained through choosing appropriate physical parameters. Our studies show quantum coherence makes the optical nonlinear effect of the system become stronger, which takes an important role in the process of generating optical bistability. A semiconductor quantum well with flexibility and easy integration in design could potentially be exploited in real solid-state devices.