Intervalence band thermalization in a GaAs quantum well

Summary form only given. We report on the thermalization dynamics of an initially "cold" hole distribution created by resonantly pumping the heavy-hole (HH) transition in a GaAs quantum well. The thermalization is monitored via the transient population of the light-hole (LH) band as a result of LO phonon absorption of HHs. Under our specific experimental conditions, the intraband thermalization within the conduction band can be excluded to contribute to the signal. The experiments are performed at various lattice temperatures and are compared with numerical calculations. To our knowledge, this is the first time firm data on the temperature dependence of the intervalence band thermalization resulting from LO-phonon absorption are obtained.