Role of the optical pulse repetition rate in the efficiency of terahertz emitters

Excitation of n-GaAs and p-InAs terahertz emitters by the series of optical pulses is studied by ensemble Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that the spatial separation of photoexcited electrons and holes dramatically reduces the recombination intensity in n-GaAs emitter, the operation of which is based on the surface field effect. The spatial separation of carriers does not affect the recombination intensity in p-InAs emitter, the operation of which is based on the photo-Dember effect. Therefore, the recovery time of equilibrium state after optical pulse in n-GaAs emitter significantly exceeds the corresponding recovery time in p-InAs emitter. This fact leads to a substantial reduction of photocurrent amplitude in n-GaAs emitter excited by the optical pulse series at high repetition rate.