Excitation correlation photoluminescence in the presence of Shockley-Read-Hall recombination

Journal Article · Sun Jun 07 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4921704· OSTI ID:22412900

Sippel, P.; Eichberger, R. ^[1]; Semtsiv, M. P.; Masselink, W. T. ^[2]

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1. Institute of Solar Fuels, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 15, Berlin D-12489 (Germany)
2. Department of Physics, Humboldt-Universität of Berlin, Newtonstrasse 15, D-12489 Berlin (Germany)

Excitation correlation photoluminescence (ECPL) measurements are often analyzed in the approximation of a cross correlation of charge carrier populations generated by the two delayed pulses. In semiconductors, this approach is valid for a linear non-radiative recombination path, but not for a non-linear recombination rate as in the general Shockley-Read-Hall recombination scenario. Here, the evolution of the ECPL signal was studied for deep trap recombination following Shockley-Read-Hall statistics. Analytic solutions can be obtained for a fast minority trapping regime and steady state recombination. For the steady state case, our results show that the quadratic radiative term plays only a minor role, and that the shape of the measured signal is mostly determined by the non-linearity of the recombination itself. We find that measurements with unbalanced intense pump and probe pulses can directly provide information about the dominant non-radiative recombination mechanism. The signal traces follow the charge carrier concentrations, despite the complex origins of the signal, thus showing that ECPL can be applied to study charge carrier dynamics in semiconductors without requiring elaborate calculations. The model is compared with measurements on a reference sample with alternating layers of InGaAs/InAlAs that were additionally cross-checked with time resolved optical pump terahertz probe measurements and found to be in excellent agreement.

• OSTI ID: 22412900
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 21; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALUMINIUM ARSENIDES
ANALYTICAL SOLUTION
APPROXIMATIONS
CHARGE CARRIERS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONCENTRATION RATIO
CORRELATIONS
EXCITATION
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
INDIUM ARSENIDES
LAYERS
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
RECOMBINATION
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
TIME RESOLUTION
TRAPPING