In this work, both the intersubband optical absorption coefficients and the refractive index changes are calculated exactly in a quantum box. Analytical expressions for the linear and nonlinear intersubband absorption coefficients and refractive index changes are obtained by using the compact-density matrix approach. Numerical results are presented for typical GaAs/AlxGa1-x As quantum box system. The linear, third-order nonlinear and total absorption and refractive index changes are investigated as a function of the incident optical intensity and structure parameters such as box-edge length and stoichiometric ratio. Our results show that both the incident optical intensity and the structure parameters have a great effect on the total absorption and refractive index changes. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.