Optical nonlinearities in semiconductors and semiconductor detectors have been widely investigated and exploited for many scientific and industrial applications. The correlation of optical and electronic characteristics in these detector materials under exposure of ultra-short laser pulses at high pulse repetition rates is still not very well known. These effects may be quite beneficial for many applications ranging from chemical and biological sensing to light-induced superconductivity. In this paper, we discuss the effect of extended bleaching in order to demonstrate sensing applications of such phenomenon as an example. Pump-probe measurements in bulk semiconductors will be presented to quantify the transient absorption dynamics and relate this to the electronic response of the detector devices. This effect is not limited semiconductors and may affect other matter states and electronic structures, like dielectrics.

Date Published: 22 May 2015
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 9467, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications VII, 946726 (22 May 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2180772

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9467:
Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications VII
Thomas George; Achyut K. Dutta; M. Saif Islam, Editor(s)