Electric-field tuning of spin-dependent exciton-exciton interactions in coupled quantum wells

We have shown experimentally that an electric field decreases the energy separation between the two components of a dense spin-polarized exciton gas in a coupled double quantum well, from a maximum splitting of ∼4meV to zero, at a field of ∼35kV/cm. This decrease, due to the field-induced deformation of the exciton wave function, is explained by an existing calculation of the change in the spin-dependent exciton-exciton interaction with the electron-hole separation. However, a new theory that considers the modification of screening with that separation is needed to account for the observed dependence on excitation power of the individual energies of the two exciton components.