Ultrafast Carrier Thermalization in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon

摘要

We present detailed studies of the initial relaxation processes of photoexcited carriers in hydrogenated amorphous silicon. We have carried out time-resolved measurements of the photoexcited carrier response in HWCVD a-Si:H thin films using a wavelength-resolved femtosecond pump-probe technique, in which an intense 35-fs pump pulse excites carriers in the sample and a time-delayed probe pulse measures the resulting change in optical properties as a function of time delay following the pump pulse. Measurements of the transient optical absorbance were carried out as a function of the density of excited carriers, sample temperature, and probe wavelength. These studies indicate fast carrier thermalization via phonon emission on a ～ 150 fs time scale and rapid phonon equilibration on a ～ 230 fs time scale.