Self electrooptic effect device employing asymmetric quantum wells

An optical device comprising

• means responsive to light for generating a photocurrent,
• a structure having a semiconductor quantum well region, and
• means responsive to said photocurrent for electrically controlling a coefficient of absorption of said semiconductor quantum well region in order to cause said coefficient of absorption to vary in response to variations of said photocurrent, said optical device CHARACTERIZED IN THAT,
• said semiconductor quantum well region includes first and second layers and a subregion between and in contact with said first and second layers, said first and second layers comprising wide bandgap semiconductor material, said subregion comprising at least one layer of substantially narrow bandgap semiconductor material, said subregion having a substantially asymmetric electronic characteristic along a width of said subregion region from said first layer to said second layer for polarizing electrons and holes within said quantum well region in an opposite direction relative to a direction of an electric field applied to said structure.