Nonlinear quantum dynamics in semiconductor quantum wells

We discuss recent measurements of the nonlinear response of electrons in wide quantum wells driven by intense electromagnetic radiation at terahertz frequencies. The theme is the interplay of quantum mechanics, strong periodic driving, the electron-electron interaction and dissipation. We discuss harmonic generation from an asymmetric double quantum well in which the effects of dynamic screening are important. Measurements and theory are found to be in good agreement. We also discuss intensity-dependent absorption in a 400Å square quantum well. A new nonlinear quantum effect occurs, in which the frequency at which electromagnetic radiation is absorbed shifts to the red with increasing intensity. The preliminary experimental results are in agreement with a theory by Zaluzny, in which the source of the nonlinearity is the self-consistent potential in the Hartree approximation for the electron dynamics.