Effect of Electron–Electron Interaction on Nonlinear Near-Resonance Electromagnetic Response of Quantum Dot Systems

We theoretically investigated the nonlinear near-resonance electromagnetic response of quantum dot systems caused by interlevel electron transitions. The effect of electron-electron (e–e) interaction in the systems on the response was taken into account by the use of a self-consistent field approach in the quasi-static limit within the density matrix formalism under stationary conditions. Analysis and numerical simulations showed the possibility of realizing the intrinsic optical bistability in quantum dot systems due to the e–e interaction. The results obtained could find application in design, fabrication, and exploitation of all-optical quantum dot-based switches.