Picosecond carrier lifetime in erbium-doped-GaAs

Abstract
The dependence of free‐carrier lifetime on erbium concentration has been measured in molecular‐beam epitaxial GaAs epilayers doped with erbium. A gradual reduction in the lifetime is observed with increased dopant incorporation. For a high doping concentration in the range of 1019 cm−3 or greater, a carrier lifetime of ∼1 ps is obtained. Due to the high resistivity of these epilayers, they can also be used as a photoconductive switch, with good responsivity. This leads to new and novel applications for rare‐earth doped III‐V semiconductors