Patent ID: 8896338

Claim:
A method for characterizing electronic properties of a semiconductor sample, the method comprising: illuminating the surface of the semiconductor sample with a background illumination having a predefined intensity and photon energy higher than an energy gap of the semiconductor; taking a first photoconductance measurement of the semiconductor sample to verify the establishment of a first state of steady-state photoconductance; illuminating the surface of the semiconductor sample with a probing pulse of light of a particular intensity, the probing pulse of light being superimposed over the background illumination; taking a second photoconductance measurement of the semiconductor sample to verify the presence of a second state of steady-state photoconductance; measuring a photoconductance rise and decay in the semiconductor sample after the cessation of the probing pulse of light; and analyzing the photoconductance to determine if the photoconductance rise and decay are substantially exponential.