We report, within a picosecond time scale, fast relaxation and relatively slow recombination dynamics of photogenerated electrons and holes in an exfoliated graphene under infrared pulse excitation. We conduct time-domain spectroscopic studies using an optical pump and terahertz probe with an optical probe technique and show that graphene sheet amplifies an incoming terahertz field. The graphene emission spectral dependency on laser pumping intensity shows a threshold-like behavior, testifying to the occurrence of the negative conductivity and the population inversion. The phase behavior of the measured terahertz electric field also shows clear Lorentzian-like normal dispersion around the gain peak, testifying to the amplification that can be attributed to stimulated emission of photocarriers in the inverted states. The emission spectra clearly narrow at a longer terahertz probe delay time, giving evidence that the quasi-Fermi energy moves closer to the equilibrium at this longer terahertz probe delay time.

• Received 5 April 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.035443