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We explored a Mg-alloyed ZnO material (or MgZnO alloy) on a lattice-matched scandium aluminum magnesium oxide substrate for obtaining most effective photodetectors with highest (∼10 A/W) and fastest (up to 3 GHz) responses and two orders of magnitude UV/VIS rejection ratio. Device operation was related to its material electronic properties (carrier lifetime, diffusivity, and diffusion length) via photoluminescence and light-induced pump–probe techniques. Defect-related response is found suitable for sensitive logarithmic detectors, while exciton-related response is favorable to ultrafast linear UV solar blind detectors. Two-contact planar detector design allows their application in low-cost environmental detection systems.

Carrier-transport mechanisms are studied in high-purity diamond irradiated with 6 MeV electrons in the dose range of 1012–1016 cm−2 and annealed at different temperatures up to 1450 °C. Lifetimes and diffusion coefficients are extracted using two pump–probe techniques based on free-carrier absorption and transient-grating principles and then correlated with the corresponding defect evolution from spectroscopic measurements. The neutral monovacancy is revealed as the main carrier recombination center in the as-irradiated diamond, providing bipolar carrier lifetimes of a few nanoseconds at the highest irradiation dose. Carrier-capture cross sections are reduced during annealing as vacancies aggregate into divacancies at ≤1000 °C and extended vacancy clusters at 1450 °C.

The development of new technology, which would be able to shift photosensitivity of Si devices to the mid-infrared range, preserving the benefits of cheap silicon readout circuits, is of high priority for short-wave infrared photo-detection in defense, medical, night vision, and material production applications. Group IV GeSn-based materials have recently shown promising optoelectronic characteristics, allowing extension of the detection range to the mid-infrared region. However, the electronic properties of the material are not well understood and need further research. In this work, we provide temperature dependent studies of carrier lifetime, diffusion coefficient, and diffusion length in Ge0.95Sn0.05 epilayer on silicon by applying contactless light induced transient grating technique. The observed temperature dependence of lifetime was explained by the recombination of carriers on vacancy-related defects. The electron and hole capture cross sections were calculated. The temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient indicated hole mobility limited by phonon and defect scattering. Weakly temperature dependent diffusion length of ∼0.5 μm verified material suitability for efficient submicrometer-thick optoelectronic devices.

We report an investigation of a planar GeSn p–i–n diode for a high-detectivity photodetector based on an undoped GeSn film. By fabricating n- and p-type regions on the plane of the GeSn film using the complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology of ion implantation, a low dark current density is revealed and attributed to the low defect density of the film and current flow suppression around the diode periphery. This yields a specific 1550-nm detectivity of ∼1010 cm Hz1/2 W−1, an order of magnitude higher than that of conventional vertical GeSn-based diodes and comparable to that of commercially available Ge-based diodes. This work provides an alternative approach for achieving a high-detectivity GeSn photodetector that may facilitate its potential applications.

An optical pump–probe technique was used to detect spatial distribution of carrier lifetimes across the thickness of a high-quality diamond device structure. Two samples with as-received and boron implanted surfaces were compared to assess the role of implantation and related processing on carrier recombination mechanisms. It was found that the two implanted surfaces show very different behaviors despite undergoing the same treatment. At one of the surfaces, carrier lifetimes remained relatively unchanged, indicating surface recombination rates in the 102–103 cm/s range. At the other surface, carrier lifetimes were almost a magnitude lower and correlated with the locally detected nitrogen vacancy defect that was attributed to the elevated concentration of residual nitrogen.

We applied time-resolved free carrier absorption and light-induced transient grating techniques for monitoring carrier dynamics in lightly Fe-doped GaN bulk crystals. Comparison of measured decay times at single- and two-photon carrier photoexcitation with those reported for higher Fe doping revealed two different branches of lifetime dependence on iron density. A deeper insight was reached by using different wavelengths for probing carrier dynamics, which enabled discrimination of electron and hole capture processes by Fe ions. The capture cross section for holes, σh = (4 ± 1) × 10−15 cm2 for the Fe2+* state (5E → 4T2 transition) was determined to be ten times larger than that for electrons, σe = (4 ± 1) × 10−16 cm2 for the Fe3+* state (4T1 → 3T1 transition). Thermal activation of the [Fe2+(5T2),hVB] complex, where hVB is a free hole, required an energy of 315 meV. Light-induced transient grating decay revealed decreasing diffusivity of electrons with Fe doping due to initial carrier capture to Fe3+ states. Simultaneous measurements of carrier diffusion coefficient and lifetime at low excitation conditions (3 × 1017 cm−3) revealed a decrease of bipolar diffusion length from 2 μm in the undoped GaN down to 0.08 μm in the Fe-doped samples at 300 K.

We applied time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy based on free carrier absorption and light diffraction on a transient grating for direct measurements of the carrier lifetime and diffusion coefficient D in high-resistivity single crystal CdTe (codoped with In and Er). The bulk carrier lifetime τ decreased from 670 ± 50 ns to 60 ± 10 ns with increase of excess carrier density N from 1016 to 5 × 1018 cm−3 due to the excitation-dependent radiative recombination rate. In this N range, the carrier diffusion length dropped from 14 μm to 6 μm due to lifetime decrease. Modeling of in-depth (axial) and in-plane (lateral) carrier diffusion provided the value of surface recombination velocity S = 6 × 105 cm/s for the untreated surface. At even higher excitations, in the 1019–3 × 1020 cm−3 density range, D increase from 5 to 20 cm2/s due to carrier degeneracy was observed.

We performed the studies of optical, photoelectric, and transport properties of a hydrothermal bulk n-type ZnO crystal by using the contactless optical techniques: photoluminescence, light-induced transient grating, and differential reflectivity. Optical studies revealed bound exciton and defect-related transitions between the donor states (at ∼60 meV and ∼240 meV below the conduction band) and the deep acceptor states (at 0.52 eV above the valence band). The acceptor state was ascribed to VZn, and its thermal activation energy of 0.43 eV was determined. A low value of carrier diffusion coefficient (∼0.1 cm2/s) at low excitations and temperatures up to 800 K was attributed to impact the recharged deep acceptors. Electron and hole mobilities of 140 and ∼80 cm2/Vs, correspondently, were determined at room temperature. The decrease of carrier lifetime with excitation was ascribed to increasing rate of radiative recombination at low temperatures and nonradiative recombination above the room temperature.

Polarization-dependent free-carrier absorption (FCA) in bulk m-plane GaN at 1053 nm revealed approximately 6 times stronger hole-related absorption for E⊥c than for E||c probe polarization both at low and high carrier injection levels. In contrast, FCA at 527 nm was found isotropic at low injection levels due to electron resonant transitions between the upper and lower conduction bands, whereas the anisotropic impact of holes was present only at high injection levels by temporarily blocking electron transitions. Carrier transport was also found to be anisotropic under two-photon excitation, with a ratio of 1.17 for diffusivity perpendicular and parallel to the c-axis.

Time-resolved free-carrier absorption and transient grating techniques were applied to determine carrier lifetimes and diffusion coefficients in a set of hydride vapor phase epitaxy GaN layers of various thickness (from 10 to 145 μm). A linear increase in nonradiative carrier lifetime in 80–800 K range found to be in a correlation with decrease of the bipolar carrier diffusion coefficient. This correlation confirmed that recombination rate is governed by carrier diffusive flow to the grain boundaries of columnar defects. A model of diffusion-governed nonradiative lifetime was proposed for fitting the measured lifetime values in the layers of different thickness as well as lifetime dependence on temperature or threading dislocation density.

Nonequilibrium carrier recombination in highly excited epitaxial layers of 4H–SiC and free standing 3C–SiC was analyzed numerically and studied experimentally by the time-resolved free carrier absorption (FCA) technique. The measurement setup combined interband carrier excitation by a picosecond laser pulse and probing of carrier dynamics at excess carrier densities in the ΔN=1017–1020 cm−3 range by optically or electronically delayed probe pulses, thus providing temporal resolution of 10 ps and 10 ns, respectively. FCA decay kinetics at different excitation levels and subsequent numerical modeling were used to determine the bulk lifetime, surface recombination velocity, and bimolecular (B) and Auger recombination (C) coefficients at 300 K. Bulk lifetimes of ∼800 ns and ∼65 ns were determined in 4H and 3C epitaxial layers, respectively. The numerical fitting of FCA kinetics in the 4H layer provided values of B=(1.2±0.4)×10−12 cm3/s and C=(7±4)×10−31 cm6/s at lower excitations while the Auger coefficient d...