Effect of electric field on the second- and third-harmonic generation of “12–6” tuned GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum well

Abstract

The nonlinear second-harmonic generation (SHG) and third-harmonic generation (THG) in “12–6” tuned GaAs/GaAlAs double quantum wells (QWs) are calculated in the presence of applied electric field under the effective mass approximation. The influence of the structural parameter of the double QW is also considered, which is the main means to adjust its nonlinear optical properties. The eigenvalues and corresponding eigenfunctions of the double QWs system are obtained via the finite difference technique. The nonlinear SHG and THG are presented as a function of the photon energy, structural parameter, and applied electric field. It is shown that the SHG and THG are sensitive to both the applied electric field and the structure parameters, which can tune the nonlinear optical properties efficiently by adjusting the symmetry and confined potential of the double QWs.