Acoustic phonon generation in the picosecond dynamics of dense electron-hole plasmas in InGaAsP films

Oscillations superposed on transient transmission and reflection from submicron films of InGaAsP (Eg=0.96 eV) and GaAs excited by subpicosecond optical pulses have been observed. The oscillations are due to coherent acoustic phonon generation in the thin films. Values for the velocity of sound, and the band-gap variation due to hydrostatic pressure and the difference in acoustic deformation potentials between conduction and valence bands are determined by analyzing the period and magnitude of the oscillations.