Electroabsorption and refraction by electron transfer in asymmetric modulation-doped multiple quantum well structures

We present a novel heterostructure that exhibits large electroabsorption and refraction. The structure is periodic with a stackable building block, thus it allows large contrast and waveguide operation. The mechanism used is the quenching of absorption produced by transfer of electrons from a reservoir into a quantum well. We demonstrate the principle by presenting differential absorption and refraction spectra on a ten-period device.