Transiently excited electron states at the GaSb(001) surface have been studied by means of time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy based on a femtosecond laser system. A normally unpopulated surface electron state has been found at similar to 250 meV above the valence band maximum with a strong confinement at the center of the surface Brillouin zone. The lifetime of transiently excited carriers at the intergap surface states has been found to be similar to 11 ps, associated with rapid carrier diffusion. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.