  We consider in-plane electrostatic traps for indirect excitons in coupled
quantum wells, where the traps are formed by a laterally modulated gate
voltage. An intrinsic obstacle for exciton confinement in electrostatic traps
is an in-plane electric field that can lead to exciton dissociation. We propose
a design to suppress the in-plane electric field and, at the same time, to
effectively confine excitons in the electrostatic traps. We present
calculations for various classes of electrostatic traps and experimental proof
of principle for trapping of indirect excitons in electrostatic traps.
