Optical absorption of a quantum well with an adjustable asymmetry

The effects of asymmetry and the electric field on the electronic subbands and the nonlinear intersubband optical absorption of GaAs quantum wells represented by a Poschl-Teller confining potential are studied. The potential itself can be made asymmetric through a correct choice of its parameter set and this adjustable asymmetry is important for optimizing the absorption. In that way optimal cases can be created. We calculate the modified wave functions and electronic subbands variationally. The linear and the nonlinear optical intersubband absorption coefficients are calculated. Numerical results for a typical GaAs quantum well are presented. The nonlinear part of the absorption coefficient is strongly modified by the asymmetry parameters while the electric field affects it at smaller values of the parameters.