Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics in GaAs

Abstract

The dynamics of excited carriers in GaAs are relevant to both electronic and optoelectronic devices. Recent advances in the generation of ultrashort optical pulses permit the investigation of these processes on a femtosecond time scale[1-3]. In this paper we describe investigations of femtosecond absorption recovery dynamics in GaAs using pulses as short as 35 fs generated by a colliding pulse modelocked (CPM) dye laser[4], Pump probe measurements reveal the presence of an initial carrier relaxation process which occurs on a time scale of less than 30 fs.