Abstract
Mid-infrared pump-probe measurements with subpicosecond time resolution reveal the existence of a metastable condensed phase of the electron-hole ensemble in a direct-gap semiconductor CuCl. High-density electrons and holes are directly created in a low-temperature state by the resonant femtosecond excitation of excitons above the Mott transition density. Strong metallic reflection with a plasma frequency builds up within 0.3 ps. Within a few picoseconds, the mid-infrared reflection spectrum is transformed from metalliclike into colloidlike. The observed resonance feature at allows us to obtain the carrier density in the metastable electron-hole droplets of .
- Received 15 September 2000
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.5795
©2001 American Physical Society