Nonequilibrium Dynamics in a Quasi-Two-Dimensional Electron Plasma after Ultrafast Intersubband Excitation

The dynamics of electrons in GaInAs/AlInAs quantum wells is studied after excitation from the n=1 to the n=2 conduction subband. Femtosecond pump-probe experiments demonstrate for the first time athermal distributions of n=1 electrons on a surprisingly long time scale of 2ps. Thermalization involves intersubband scattering of excited electrons via optical phonon emission with a time constant of 1ps and intrasubband Coulomb and phonon scattering. Ensemble Monte Carlo simulations show that the slow electron equilibration results from Pauli blocking and screening of carrier-carrier scattering. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society