We demonstrate an electrostatic trap for indirect excitons in a field-effect structure based on coupled GaAs quantum wells. Within the plane of a double quantum well indirect excitons are trapped at the perimeter of a SiO2 area sandwiched between the surface of the GaAs heterostructure and a semitransparent metallic top gate. The trapping mechanism is well explained by a combination of the quantum confined Stark effect and local field enhancement. We find the one-dimensional trapping potentials in the quantum well plane to be nearly harmonic with high spring constants exceeding 10 keV/cm^2.
@article{arxiv.0705.2428,
title = {Micropatterned Electrostatic Traps for Indirect Excitons in Coupled GaAs Quantum Wells},
author = {A. Gartner and L. Prechtel and D. Schuh and A. W. Holleitner and J. P. Kotthaus},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0705.2428},
year = {2015}
}