Transition between different coherent light-matter interaction regimes analyzed by phase-resolved pulse propagation

We present phase-resolved pulse propagation measurements that allow us to fully describe the transition between several light–matter interaction regimes. The complete range from linear excitation to the breakdown of the photonic bandgap on to self-induced transmission and self-phase modulation is studied on a high-quality multiple-quantum-well Bragg structure. An improved fast-scanning cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating setup is applied to retrieve the pulse phase with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. Calculations using the semiconductor Maxwell–Bloch equations show qualitative agreement with the experimental findings.