Many-Body Interaction Evidenced through Exciton-Trion-Electron Correlated Dynamics

Interactions among excitons, trions, and electrons are studied in CdTe modulation-doped quantum wells. These many-body interactions are investigated through the nonlinear dynamical properties in the excitonic complexes using time and spectrally resolved pump and probe techniques. This study is performed as a function of temperature and densities of excitons, trions, and electrons. The results reveal that the nonlinearities induced by trions differ from those induced by excitons and moreover they are mutually correlated. The correlated behavior of excitons and trions manifests itself by crossed trion-exciton effects. We propose that the main source of these correlations is due to the presence of electrons in the quantum well and that its physical origin is the Pauli exclusion-principle. We find that, at 5 K, trions are formed from excitons within 10 ps; at 20 K a thermal equilibrium is reached within 5 ps.