Spatially inhomogeneous optical gain in semiconductor photonic-crystal structures

The optical and electronic properties of semiconductor heterostructures in the vicinity of photonic crystals are discussed. The theoretical approach provides a self-consistent solution of the dynamics of the electromagnetic field and the material excitations. Due to the influence of the structured dielectric environment on the Coulomb interaction, the exciton resonances and the quasiequilibrium carrier densities in the spatially homogeneous semiconductor become space dependent. It is demonstrated that these inhomogeneities lead to distinct modifications of the optical absorption and gain spectra. As an application, numerically calculated density-dependent optical spectra are analyzed for an array of semiconductor quantum wires which are close to a two-dimensional photonic crystal. The spatial inhomogeneities result in novel excitonic absorption features and modification of the optical gain in these structures.