Exciton relaxation dynamics in quantum well heterostructures

Abstract
In this paper we report an overview of some points that we believe mostly relevant to the exciton dynamics in quantum well structures. We will concentrate our attention to the intrinsic radiative lifetime of the free excitons and the effects that localization has on the recombination kinetics. It is shown that a good agreement is eventually found between the theoretical predictions and the experimental data, even if some key aspects for a quantitative comprehension of the recombination mechanisms, namely the effects of phonon and/or interface defect scattering, still lack a complete understanding.