Many body effects in transient luminescence spectra of a homogeneous electron-hole plasma in CdTe/CdMnTe quantum wells

Abstract Using time resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy, we have investigated many body effects and the dynamics of a high density electron-hole plasma in strained CdTe/CdMnTe quantum wells. Great care has been taken to achieve a spacially homogeneous plasma by mesa etching of single quantum well structures. Our experimental data show strong band filling effects up to the barrier energy due to the Pauli principle within a few tenths of ps. A lineshape analysis yields plasma densities up to 2 × 10 12 cm -2 and carrier temperatures up to 335 K (bath temperature 2 K). A band gap renormalization of the emission spectrum up to around 23 meV as compared to a low excitation reference spectrum is observed. The reduction of the carrier density due to recombination causes an increase of the emission intensity at the 1e-1hh exciton transition, indicating an enhancement of the oscillator strength below the Mott density.