Measurements of the carrier relaxation dynamics in low-temperature-gro
wn GaAs have been made with a femtosecond-resolution, time-resolved pu
mp-probe technique using a subband-gap probe-beam wavelength. The tran
sient absorption and index of refraction changes have been analyzed us
ing a relaxation model with up to four different excited state populat
ions. The carrier recombination time within the midgap trap states is
found to be longer than the subpicosecond free-carrier trapping time.
Two time scales are observed for the recombination rate, one of a few
picoseconds and one of hundreds of picoseconds, indicating the presenc
e of at least two different trap states for the free-carriers in this
material. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.