LAUSR

Abstract The self-phase modulation and modulation instability of an optical probe electromagnetic field in multiple quantum well systems under electromagnetically induced transparency has been investigated. The probe field experiences large Kerr and quintic nonlinearities that can be controlled by two controlling laser beams. The probe beam experiences self-phase modulation which is suppressed by the quintic nonlinearity. The probe field is modulationally unstable due to the existence of large nonlinearities. The bandwidth of unstable frequencies and growth of the instability could be controlled by the probe beam power, the Rabi frequency and detunings of two control fields. The presence of the higher order nonlinearity and dispersion significantly reduce the instability growth and bandwidth of unstable frequency.