Transient photovoltaic effect in InAs-GaSb superlattices

We describe theoretically a new, transient, photovoltaic effect which occurs in superlattices presenting a spatial separation of the electron and hole wavefunctions together with a lack of global reflection symmetry. The luminescence of an InAs-GaSb semiconductor superlattice under pulsed excitation shows an increase of the band gap with the density of injected carriers, which we relate to this photovoltaic effect. © 1986.