Characterizing semiconductor materials with terahertz radiation pulses

Experimental techniques that exploit pulses of the electromagnetic radiation with characteristic spectra covering the frequency range between few hundreds GHz and few THz and their applications in the characterization of various semiconductor materials are reviewed. The list of material parameters that can be determined by using pulsed THz techniques includes, among other, carrier lifetimes, their energy and momentum relaxation times, inter-valley separation in the conduction band, and nonlinear optical susceptibilities of the material.