Temporal response of photorefractive multiple quantum wells in Franz-Keldysh geometry

Transient behavior of the photorefractive grating generated in multiple quantum well structure working in the transverse Franz-Kieldysh geometry is considered. Analysis was performed in the framework of the band transport model with material parameters of GaAs/AlGaAs system. The influence of carrier transport nonlinearity caused by the intervalley scattering of electrons was taken into account. An analytical expression for the grating formation time is derived and compared with numerical solutions as well as with the available experimental results. The results show that in the case of stationary interference pattern the nonlinear transport of electrons does not considerably improve the response time of the structure. This conclusion, checked for parameters used in majority of experiments, does not confirm the statements of earlier papers.