Two-Photon Emission from Semiconductors

We report the first experimental observations of two-photon emission from semiconductors, to the best of our knowledge, and develop a corresponding theory for the room-temperature process. Spontaneous two-photon emission is demonstrated in optically-pumped bulk GaAs and in electrically-driven GaInP/AlGaInP quantum wells. Singly-stimulated two-photon emission measurements demonstrate the theoretically predicted two-photon optical gain in semiconductors - a necessary ingredient for any realizations of future two-photon semiconductor lasers. Photon-coincidence experiment validates the simultaneity of the electrically-driven GaInP/AlGaInP two-photon emission, limited only by detector's temporal resolution.