Time-Resolved Photoinduced Thermoelectric and Transport Currents in GaAs Nanowires

In order to clarify the temporal interplay of the different photocurrent mechanisms occurring in single GaAs nanowire based circuits, we introduce an on-chip photocurrent pump–probe spectroscopy with a picosecond time resolution. We identify photoinduced thermoelectric, displacement, and carrier lifetime limited currents as well as the transport of photogenerated holes to the electrodes. Moreover, we show that the time-resolved photocurrent spectroscopy can be used to investigate the drift velocity of photogenerated carriers in semiconducting nanowires. Hereby, our results are relevant for nanowire-based optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications