  Theoretical and numerical calculations of the optical absorption spectra of
excitons interacting with longitudinal-optical phonons in quasi-2D polar
semiconductors are presented. In II-VI semiconductor quantum wells, exciton
binding energy can be tuned on- and off-resonance with the longitudinal-optical
phonon energy by varying the quantum well width. A comprehensive picture of
this tunning effect on the temperature-dependent exciton absorption spectrum is
derived, using the exciton Green's function formalism at finite temperature.
The effective exciton-phonon interaction is included in the Bethe-Salpeter
equation. Numerical results are illustrated for ZnSe-based quantum wells. At
low temperatures, both a single exciton peak as well as a continuum resonance
state are found in the optical absorption spectra. By contrast, at high enough
temperatures, a splitting of the exciton line due to the real phonon absorption
processes is predicted. Possible previous experimental observations of this
splitting are discussed.
