Kinematics of Cold Excitons in the Laser Induced Exciton Trap

We have recently demonstrated laser induced trapping of indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells [1]. An important advantage of the laser induced exciton trapping is the possibility of controlling the trap in-situ by varying the laser intensity in space and time. Moreover, the excitons at the trap center are cold since they are far from the hot area of the laser excitation. Here, we report the studies of exciton kinetics in the laser induced traps. In particular, the kinetics of the trap formation and the exciton collection to the trap center when the excitation is switched on, as well as the kinetics of the exciton cloud when the excitation and trap are switched off have been measured by ultrafast imaging spectroscopy. The dynamics of the degenerate Bose gas of excitons in the trap was measured and analyzed for the first time. [1] A.T. Hammack, M. Griswold, L.V. Butov, L.E. Smallwood, A.L. Ivanov, and A.C. Gossard, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 227402 (2006).