Transient saturation absorption spectroscopy excited near the band gap at high excitation carrier density in GaAs

Transient saturation absorption spectroscopy in GaAs thin films was investigated using femtosecond pump and supercontinuum probe technique at excitation densities higher than 1×1019 cm−3. The Coulomb enhancement factor of the electron–hole plasma results in a spectrum hole at the pump wavelength. Two distinct transmission peaks at two sides of the pump wavelength are observed, arising from the bleaching of transitions from the heavy- and light-hole bands to the conduction band. The dynamic process of the transient saturation absorption is fitted using a bi-exponential function. The fast decay process is dominated by the carrier-phonon scattering and the slow process may be attributed to the electron–hole recombination.