A generalized Bloch-Maxwell formulation for laser-field-coupled semiconductors is derived from a two-band model which includes direct Coulomb interactions. The momentum-dependent, microscopic, electron-hole equations of motion in the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation and neglecting interband exchange interactions form the starting point for the formulation. A self-consistent set of coupled equations in four dynamical variables for the medium, together with the electric-field amplitude coupled through the Maxwell wave equation in a semiclassical approximation, are obtained to lowest order in the coherent Coulomb exchange interaction and the density-of-states distribution. Intrinsic optical bistability is predicted in a steady state due to a carrier density-dependent redshift of the band edge due explicitly to coherent Coulomb exchange. Integration of the dynamical equations for conditions which correspond to the ultrafast time regime exhibit intrinsic adiabatic inversion, adiabatic following, anomalous Rabi cycling, and unique, as well as fast, optical switching, all of which depend upon the coherent Coulomb exchange interaction.

• Received 28 November 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.51.4132