  A new acousto-electrical method making use of transient transverse
acoustoelectric voltage (TAV) to study solid state structures is reported. This
voltage arises after a surface acoustic wave (SAW) generating the signal is
switched off. Related measurements consist in detecting the shape of transient
voltage and its spectral and temperature dependence. Both theory and experiment
show that this method is an effective tool to characterize trapping centers in
the bulk as well as at surfaces or interfaces of epitaxial semiconductor
structures.
