Reduced binding energy of the symmetric heavy-hole exciton in GaAs/${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$As symmetric coupled double quantum wells

Discrete peaks, which are identified as the excited 2s state of the n=1 symmetric heavy-hole exciton, are observed in GaAs/${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$As symmetric coupled double-quantum-well (SCDQW) samples by combining unpolarized and polarized photoluminescence-excitation measurements. The 1s-2s splitting of symmetric heavy-hole excitons is accurately determined in the SCDQW’s. The 1s-2s splitting is significantly reduced compared to uncoupled quantum wells.