Metal-like heat conduction in laser-excited InSb probed by picosecond time-resolved x-ray diffraction

A semiconductor (InSb) showed transient metal- like heat conduction after excitation of a dense electron- hole plasma via short and intense light pulses. A related ultrafast strain relaxation was detected using picosecond time-resolved x-ray diffraction. The deduced heat conduction was, by a factor of 30, larger than the lattice contribution. The anomalously high heat conduction can be explained once the contribution from the degenerate photocarrier plasma is taken into account. The magnitude of the effect could provide the means for guiding heat in semiconductor nanostructures. In the course of this work, a quantitative model for the carrier dynamics in laser-irradiated semiconductors has been developed, which does not rely on any adjustable parameters or ad hoc assumptions. The model includes various light absorption processes (interband, free carrier, two photon, and dynamical Burstein- Moss shifts), ambipolar diffusion, energy transport (heat and chemical potential), electrothermal effects, Auger recombination, collisional excitation, and scattering (elastic and inelastic). The model accounts for arbitrary degrees of degeneracy.