Abstract

The high-speed performance of MSM-diodes has been studied by various techniques probing the electrical response of the devices [1-4]. The internal carrier transport in MSM-devices has not been studied yet. In this paper, we report on time resolved studies of the internal carrier transport in MSM-diodes. The experiments are performed with femtosecond luminescence upconversion with a time resolution of 200 fs. We show that the luminescence emitted from the photogenerated carriers within the MSM-diodes is strongly reduced within the first picoseconds. This effect is discussed in terms of spatial carrier separation, intervalley transfer and field screening. Field induced intervalley scattering is identified as the dominant mechanism and observed in the time domain for the first time [5].

© 1993 Optical Society of America