In this Letter, we study the diffusion properties of photoexcited carriers in coupled quantum wells around the Mott transition. We find that the diffusion of unbound electrons and holes is ambipolar and is characterized by a large diffusion coefficient, similar to that found in $p\mathrm{\text{−}}i\mathrm{\text{−}}n$ junctions. Correlation effects in the excitonic phase are found to significantly suppress the carriers’ diffusion. We show that this difference in diffusion properties gives rise to the appearance of a photoluminescence ring pattern around the excitation spot at the Mott transition.

• Received 7 September 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.257402