Arsenic-Ion-Implanted GaAs as an Ultrafast Photoconductor

It is now well known that low-temperature-MBE-grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) has a photoexcited carrier lifetime that is subpicosecond - or at most a few picoseconds - and, when annealed, outstanding properties in terms of photodetection and gating (i.e., high resistivity, high breakdown voltage, and reasonable mobility) [1]. The unique behavior of LT-GaAs has even led to the creation of commercial detector and sampling gate applications based on these materials. However, due to the MBE growth process, LT-GaAs, is a relatively expensive material compared with conventional, LEC, undoped GaAs.