Determine electric field directions at semiconductor surfaces by femtosecond frequency domain interferometric second harmonic (FDISH) generation

Optical excitations at semiconductor surfaces or interfaces are accompanied by transient interfacial electric fields due to charge redistribution or transfer. While such transient fields may be probed by time-resolved second harmonic generation (TR-SHG), it is difficult to determine the field direction, which is invaluable to unveiling the underlying physics. Here we apply a time-resolved frequency domain interferometric second harmonic (TR-FDISH) generation technique to determine the phase relationship between the SH field emitted from bulk GaAs(1 0 0) and the transient SH field from the space charge region. The interference between these two SH fields allow us to unambiguously determine the directions of transient electric fields. Since SH fields from a static bulk contribution and a changing electric field contribution are present at most semiconductor surfaces or interfaces under optical excitation, the TR-FDISH technique is of general significance to probing the dynamics of interfacial charge transfer/redistribution.