1. The time required for excess minority carriers stored in a forward-biased pn junction to be removed after the junction is switched to reverse bias, and hence the time interval between the application of reverse bias and the cessation of forward current.

2. The time required for excess charge carriers in the collector region of a saturated transistor to be removed when the base signal is changed to cut-off level, and hence for the collector current to cease.

See <<decay time>>