Picosecond time-resolved photoluminescence at detection wavelengths greater than 1500 nm.

We report what is to our knowledge the first application of high-efficiency InGaAs/InP photon-counting diode detectors in time-resolved photoluminescence measurements at wavelength greater than 1500 nm. When they were cooled to 77 K and used in conjunction with the time-correlated single-photon counting technique, the detectors were capable of an instrumental response of 230 ps and a noise equivalent power of $2\times {10}^{-17} \mathrm{W} {\mathrm{Hz}}^{-1/2}$. Preliminary measurement of a semiconductor heterostructure indicates sensitivity at photogenerated carrier densities as low as ${10}^{14} {\mathrm{cm}}^{-3}$. This development facilitates the detailed characterization of dominant recombination mechanisms in semiconductor optoelectronic materials and devices designed to operate in the third telecommunications spectral window.