Constraints on coherent control of quantum-well excitons for high-speed all-optical switching

Coherent control of excitons in quantum wells at high repetition rates is investigated theoretically to determine the practical constraints for application in high-bit-rate optical switching. A tradeoff between optical pathlength (number of quantum wells) and excitation density is found that severely limits the applicability of this mechanism for implementation in 100-Gb/s optical systems.