Spatially resolved ultrafast transport current in GaAs photoswitches

Abstract: We apply a pump- and probe-scheme to coplanar stripline circuits to investigate the photocurrent response of GaAs photoswitches in time and space. We find a displacement current pulse, as has been reported earlier. A time-delayed second pulse is interpreted by a transport current. A time-of-flight analysis allows us to determine the velocity of the photogenerated charge carriers in the transport current. It exceeds the Fermi and the single-particle quantum velocities. This suggests that the excitation of a collective electron-hole plasma and not single charge-carriers dominates the ultrafast transport current in GaAs photoswitches.