The femtosecond intraband relaxation of hot carriers in GaAs, Al_0.32Ga_0.68As, and the multiple-quantum-well structure is studied using the equal-pulse optical-correlation technique. An overview of the experimental application of this technique to semiconductors is presented. A detailed theoretical analysis of the coherent-artifact contribution to the transmission-correlation peak in the geometry of parallel copropagating beams and a calculation of the saturable-absorption symmetry coefficients for GaAs are given. The relaxation time of carriers from their initially excited states was measured to be in the range 50–100 fsec for the materials studied. The interpretation of the measured relaxation time in terms of electron and hole response functions is discussed. The relevant scattering processes and rates and the corresponding relaxation times calculated from these rates are given.

© 1985 Optical Society of America

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