Interaction between metamaterial resonators and intersubband transitions in semiconductor quantum wells

We report on the coupling and interaction between the fundamental resonances of planar metamaterials (split ring resonators) and intersubband transitions in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells structures in the mid-infrared. An incident field polarized parallel to the sample surface is converted by the metamaterial resonators into a field with a finite component polarized normal to the surface and interacts strongly with the large dipole moment associated with quantum well intersubband transitions. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.