The bound‐to‐continuum absorption inp‐type GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells is calculated based on the electronic structure, wave functions, and optical matrix elements obtained from an 8×8 envelope‐function approximation (EFA) calculation without the use of an artificial large box to enclose the entire system; as such, the present work represents the first true continuum calculation. We show that, for an aluminum content of 30%, the well width of 48 A˚ (and not the 30 or 40 A˚ wells used previously) optimizes the linear absorption coefficient for bound‐to‐continuum absorption due to the presence of a resonant LH2 (second light‐hole) state at the top of the well. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.