Femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy of intersubband relaxation dynamics in narrow InGaAs/AlAsSb quantum well structures

Intersubband relaxation dynamics in InGaAs/AlAsSb multiquantum wells (QWs) is studied by single-color femtosecond pump-probe measurements. At early delay times, all samples show an exponential decay of the transient transmission occurring with time constants of the order of a picosecond. The relaxation dynamics at later delay times strongly depend on both QW thickness and doping location. A non-single-exponential decay behavior indicates extra competing relaxation channels, as further confirmed by solving three-level rate equations. It is shown that slowly decaying components are due to electron transfer to states related to indirect valleys in the wells or in the barriers.