Ultrafast sensing of photoconductivity decay using microwave resonators

Abstract

Microwave reflectance probed photoconductivity (or μ-PCD) measurement represents a contactless method to determine the amount and lifetime of light-induced charge carriers in semiconductors. Major drawbacks of the method include a difficult separation of reflectance due to dielectric and conduction effects and that the μ-PCD signal is prohibitively weak for highly conducting samples. Both of these limitations could be tackled with the use of microwave resonators due to the well-known sensitivity of resonator parameters to minute changes in the material properties combined with a null measurement. A general misconception is that time resolution of resonator measurements is limited beyond their bandwidth by the readout electronics response time. While it is true for conventional resonator measurements, such as those employing a frequency sweep, we present a time-resolved resonator parameter readout method which overcomes these limitations and allows measurement of complex material parameters and to enhance μ-PCD signals with the ultimate time resolution limit being the resonator time constant. This is achieved by detecting the transient response of microwave resonators on the time scale of a few 100 ns during the μ-PCD decay signal. The method employs a high-stability oscillator working with a fixed frequency, which results in a stable and highly accurate measurement.