Abstract
Ultrafast acoustic wave packets are detected by probing the photocurrent in semiconductor devices containing quantum wells. The strain pulses were generated by thermalization of a femtosecond laser pulse in a thin metal film deposited on the surface of the GaAs substrate opposite to the semiconductor device. The probing was realized by measuring the photocurrent excited by a femtosecond optical pulse with photon energy close to the excitonic resonance of the quantum well. Two types of devices are used: a reverse biased (AlGa)As p-i-n tunneling diode containing a GaAs quantum well in its intrinsic region and a planar device containing an (InGa)As quantum well. The change in photocurrent arises from the strain-induced shift of the quantum well excitonic resonance due to deformation potential electron-phonon coupling. The method has a picosecond temporal resolution, shows a high sensitivity to subterahertz acoustic wave packets and has potential for ultrafast control of electrical conductance in semiconductor devices.
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