Ultrafast carrier dynamics in polycrystalline bismuth telluride nanofilm

In this study, the dynamics of energy carriers in polycrystalline bismuth telluride nanofilm are investigated by the ultrafast pump-probe method. The energy relaxation processes are quantitatively analyzed by using the numerical fitting models. The extracted hot carrier relaxation times of photon excitation, thermalization, and diffusion are around sub-picosecond. The initial reflectivity recovery is found to be dominantly determined by the carrier diffusion, electron-phonon coupling, and photo-generated carriers trapping processes. High-frequency and low-frequency oscillations are both observed and attributed to coherent optical phonons and coherent acoustic phonons, respectively. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.