Correlation and coherence in semiconductors

We review recent advances, both experimental and theoretical, that have furthered our understanding of many-body effects in laser excited semiconductors and their heterostructures. They manifest themselves in two classes of phenomena. The first are observed in the coherently driven electron–hole pair system generated during and immediately after laser excitation before dissipation is turned on. The second are the effects electron–phonon and electron–electron scattering that drive the non-Markovian behavior of relaxation processes seen following laser excitation.