Pump-probe studies of electron dynamics in quantum wells and superlattices

After introducing the infrared/THz free-electron laser (FEL) facility at the Research Center Dresden-Rossendorf, I will discuss some pump-probe experiments to study the electron relaxation dynamics in superlattices. Both one-color, but also two-color experiments have been performed using the FEL, and, in addition, THz radiation generated by optical rectification in GaSe as the probe beam. In the second part of my talk I will discuss the intersubband dynamics in thin InGaAs/AlAsSb quantum wells, which are important for short-wavelength quantum cascade lasers. These experiments were performed using a femtosecond OPO system and yield information on the relevance of intervalley scattering.