Abstract
We propose a mechanism to trap electrons in a semiconductor using counter-propagating laser beams. The trapping comes from Pauli blocking between electrons and virtual excitons coupled to unabsorbed photons. Electron exchange allows for the possibility of momentum transfer between photons and electrons. This leads to a sinusoidal trap for electrons with a period determined by the laser beam modulation. The depth of the trap is proportional to the laser intensity and inversely proportional to the exciton-photon detuning.