A Semiconductor-Based Photonic Memory Cell

Photonic signals were efficiently stored in a semiconductor-based memory cell. The incident photons were converted to electron-hole pairs that were locally stored in a quantum well that was laterally modulated by a field-effect tunable electrostatic superlattice. At large superlattice potential amplitudes, these pairs were stored for a time that was at least five orders of magnitude longer than their natural lifetime. At an arbitrarily chosen time, they were released in a short and intense flash of incoherent light, which was triggered by flattening the superlattice amplitude.