An investigation of ultrafast plasma dynamics in a GaAs infrared reflection switch

We report on a study of optically induced transient infrared reflectivity at 10.6 /spl mu/m of a GaAs wafer. The basic characteristics and the photogenerated plasma behavior of the reflection switch are discussed. A model is proposed to explain the observed time resolved and integrated reflectivity. Here, diffusion and a two body recombination mechanism whose rate is taken to be dependent on the carrier density, are used to model the plasma evolution. The experimental observations are found to be consistent with the model.<
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