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Gain in Strongly Confined Quantum Dots

Harald Giessen, Nasser Peyghambarian, Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., and Ulrike Woggon, Fachbereich Physik, Arbeitsgruppe Halbleiterphysik, Kaiserslautern, Germany

Quasi-zero-dimensional systems have been proposed as superior gain media for a laser because they should exhibit a delta-function like density of states and therefore a high inversion and a low lasing threshold. We present theoretical and experimental studies of the ultrafast dynamics of optical gain in strongly confined CdSe quantum dots in a glass matrix, which serve as a model system for quasi-zero-dimension semiconductors.