Suris tetrons: possible spectroscopic evidence for four-particle optical excitations of a two-dimensional electron gas

The excitations of a two-dimensional electron gas in quantum wells with intermediate carrier density (ne ∼ 1011 cm−2), i.e., between the exciton-trion and the Fermi-sea range, are so far poorly understood. We report on an approach to bridge this gap by a magnetophotoluminescence study of modulation-doped (Cd,Mn)Te quantum well structures. Employing their enhanced spin splitting, we analyzed the characteristic magnetic-field behavior of the individual photoluminescence features. Based on these results and earlier findings by other authors, we present a new approach for understanding the optical transitions at intermediate densities in terms of four-particle excitations, the Suris tetrons, which were up to now only predicted theoretically. All characteristic photoluminescence features are attributed to emission from these quasiparticles when attaining different final states.