The properties of optically dense materials are influenced by interactions between elementary optical excitations (oscillators). Since such interactions are absent in the dilute limit, the resulting properties are unique to optically dense materials. While linear optical experiments can probe these effects, for example the Lorentz-Lorenz resonance shift, they are often more apparent in nonlinear experiments that are sensitive to coherence. Direct gap semiconductors are typically optically dense close to the fundamental gap and have been extensively studied using ultrafast coherent spectroscopy over the last ten years. However, their coherent optical properties are very complex because of many-body interactions among the extended excitations (electron-hole pairs or excitons). Dense atomic vapors have also been studied, but typically using frequency domain techniques. We present the results of using ultrafast techniques to study both semiconductors and dense atomic vapors. This reveals the similarities and differences of the two systems, yielding insight into the characteristics of each individually.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.