We report an experimental study, by means of ps time-resolved luminesc
ence correlations, of the free carrier relaxation in type II InP/AlInA
s heterostructures. The decay times are measured in the energy range c
orresponding to the spatially indirect electron-hole recombination and
at low excitation power in order to avoid band-filling effects. These
times are in the range of a few tens of ps. They are much shorter tha
n the decay time of the spectrally integrated and correspond to the pl
asma thermalization times. From the experimental data, the presence of
a large amount of traps or carriers due to a residual doping is infer
red and it is shown that they play a fundamental role in the recombina
tion. Finally, from the analysis of the time-resolved correlations at
different excitation intensities, we confirmed the contribution to the
luminescence of transitions involving different valence subbands.