Bound states in optical absorption of semiconductor quantum wells containing a two-dimensional electron Gas.

The dependence of the optical absorption spectrum of a semiconductor quantum well on two-dimensional electron concentration n(e) is studied using CdTe samples. The trion peak (X-) seen at low n(e) evolves smoothly into the Fermi edge singularity at high n(e). The exciton peak (X) moves off to high energy, weakens, and disappears.