Effect of external electric field on the probability of optical transitions in InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells

The effect of external electric field on interband optical transitions in single InxGa1 − xAs/GaAs quantum wells is studied by electroreflectance spectroscopy. A procedure is suggested for separating the contribution of particular exciton transitions to the complicated modulation spectrum. Nontrivial field dependences of the probability of optical transitions forbidden by the symmetry are observed experimentally. The data are compared with the corresponding theoretical dependences. The strength of the internal electric field in the region of the quantum well is determined from Frantz-Keldysh’s oscillations. Under certain electric fields, the probability of transitions forbidden with no field is higher than the probability of transitions allowed by the symmetry.