Excitonic photoluminescence in semiconductor quantum wells: plasma versus excitons.

Time-resolved photoluminescence spectra after nonresonant excitation show a distinct 1s resonance, independent of the existence of bound excitons. A microscopic analysis identifies exciton and electron-hole plasma contributions. For low temperatures and low densities, the excitonic emission is extremely sensitive to details of the electron-hole-pair population making it possible to identify even minute fractions of optically active excitons.