Rigorous excitonic theory of field dependent superlattice absorption

Abstract
We have performed calculations of the field dependent excitonic absorption spectra of semiconductor superlattices in a model which is capable of fully taking into account the Coulomb interaction and both bound and continuum excitonic states. Results are obtained for the complete range of fields from the Franz-Keldysh to the Wannier-Stark regime. The lineshapes of the excitonic spectra are shown to resemble the derivative of the corresponding single particle spectra with respect to the wavelength. In addition characteristic excitonic features have been found, which also have been observed in photocurrent spectra.