High-field transport in GaAs is investigated tracing ultrafast modifications of the Franz–Keldysh absorption spectrum of a heterostructure diode. A sophisticated sample design allows us to isolate the unipolar tranport properties of holes in combination with a nanometer scale definition of layers for both photoexcitation and detection of the propagating carrier distribution. Transient velocities and spatial broadening of the hole ensemble are directly measured for electric fields between 15 and 200 kV∕cm comparing room temperature operation to results for . Even at low temperatures, the transient hole velocities are found not to exceed a value of which is a result of ultrafast optical phonon emission with a scattering time below 25 fs.
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