Negative FIR-photoconductivity in n-GaAs

Negative photoconductivity in n-GaAs has been observed in the far infrared spectral range between 20 and 29 cm^–1. Negative photoconductivity occurs when a magnetic field is applied to the samples and impact ionization of shallow donors by the electric bias field is the dominant mechanism of electron excitation to the conduction band. A conceivable model qualitatively explaining the experimental results is proposed, which involves optical transitions from the lowest Landau subband to higher bound states of shallow donors.     

Saturation of ionization edge absorption by donors in germanium

A study of saturation of the absorption and photoconductivity of Sb and P donors in Ge for radiation of 90 m wavelength, i.e., of energy very closely above their ionization edges is presented at T=9.3 K. Under these conditions negligible heating by the excess radiation energy is expected, which provides a convenient opportunity to study the kinetics of photoionization and recombination. From these measurements we have determined the donor capture cross section of electrons at 9.3 K to be _c=(1.2±0.7)×10^–12cm^–2, and the relaxation time from the 2s to the ground state as ₂₁=(5.8±1.0)×10^–10s. The saturation intensity of the absorption coefficient is around three orders of magnitude higher than the saturation intensity of the photoconductivity. We explain the nonlinear photoconductivity by the Debye-Conwell dependence of the mobility on the number of photoionized donors and compensating acceptors.     

High power splitting of the cyclotron resonance induced photoconductivity in n-GaAs

Conclusion In summary our results show that photoconductivity and optical absorption under cyclotron resonance conditions in high purity n-GaAs are more complex than it has been assumed previously. As cyclotron resonance can only be measured with non zero free electron concentration, and because the 2p _– shallow donor level remains below the N=0 Landau level for all magnetic field strengths, a certain population of 2p _– states must be present and thus the interference between both absorption processes is unavoidable as long as 2p _–2p ₊ electric dipole transitions are activated by ionized impuritics. This interference gets most drastically manifest at high intensities causing an apparent splitting of the photoconductivity line. Even at lower intensities however when the dip in the photoconductivity line is not observable, all optical characteristics previously attributed to cyclotron resonance are affected by the shallow donor absorption. The energy separationE _2p+–E _2p– of shallow donors in a magnetic field is exactly equal to w _CR only for isolated impurities in the effective mass approximation. The same electric stray field of ionized impurities which cause the activation of 2p _–2p ₊ absorption may shift the donor energy levels due to stark effect. For magnetic field strengthsB<1 T a field dependent deviation ofE _{2 +}–E _{1p –} from the cyclotron resonance quantum energy was observed [15] amounting up to 8 pc. In this case we expect that the peak positions of photoconductivity and absorption do not spectrally coincide and do not occur at the resonance magnetic field strength of 01 Landau level transitions. Thus effective masses determined by standard cyclotron resonance methods at low magnetic fields may be incorrect by a few percent.     

Threshold and probability of impact ionization by electrons in narrow-gap p-type semiconductors with highly degenerate holes

The process of electron-initiated impact ionization of states in the heavy-hole band is investigated theoretically for a p-type narrow-gap semiconductor with energy bands governed by the Kane dispersion law, subject to the condition that the Fermi level of the holes lies in the valence band. The dependence of the minimum electron energy for ionization of a state at the Fermi level in the valence band on the heavy-hole Fermi momentum is determined. The probability of impact ionization for electrons with near-threshold energies is calculated for the case in which the heavy-hole Fermi momentum exceeds the hole threshold momentum for the given ionization process. Relations between the temperatures of holes and electrons with energies of the order of the threshold value are found, thereby establishing the validity domain of the final results. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 275–279 (February 1997)     

Magneto-optical study of shallow donors in transmutation-doped GaAs

Lineshapes and peak positions of 1s→2p^?1, donor transitions in epitaxial GaAs samples of relatively low compensation have been studied as functions of magnetic field by use of photoconductivity measurements. Some of these samples were produced by transmutation doping using thermal neutrons—a method which is useful for the controlled introduction of donor impurities in GaAs. Two new effects, tentatively attributed to van der Waals interactions between neutral donor atoms, are observed: (1) although both Se and Ge donors are introduced by thermal neutron transmutation, the Se line is much broader than the Ge line, and (2) deviations from isolated-donor behavior occur in the magnetic field dependence of the chemical shift of the shallowest donor present. The separation of lines from two deeper donors, Ge and Si, verified the simple phenomenological theory of the magnetic field dependence of central cell corrections of isolated donors up to at least 10T.     

High magnetic field studies of donor excitation spectra in InSb

The two lowest energy spectral lines of the shallow donors in InSb involving ground to excited state transitions are studied in photoconductivity using higher spectral resolution and stronger magnetic fields than achieved previously. The observed line positions are compared with recent calculations of the high field hydrogenic donor levels and difference of the order of the effective Rydberg R¹ at zero field are found at magnetic fields where the zero point cyclotron energy exceeds R¹ by two orders of magnitude. Central-cell components of the 1s–2p transition, corresponding to four donor species are resolved, and the magnetic field dependence of the relative chemical shifts are analysed. The broader 1s–2p₀ line undergoes a coupling at an interaction energy of 37 cm^-1, the origin of which is uncertain at present.     

Negative persistent photoconductivity in GaAs (δ-Sn) structures

The effect of illumination with various wavelengths λ (770 nm<λ<1120 nm) on the conductivity of GaAs structures with tin δ-doping of the vicinal faces was investigated in the temperature range 4.2–300 K. Negative persistent photoconductivity was found in strongly doped samples. It was shown on the basis of the results of investigations of the Hall and Shubnikov-de Haas effects that the negative photoconductivity is due to a large decrease in the electron mobility with increasing electron density. The decrease of electron mobility is explained by ionization of DX centers, which destroys the spatial correlation in the distribution of positively charged donors and negatively charged DX centers. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 116, 2130–2139 (December 1999)     

Photoluminescence characterization of polycrystalline n-type Cu2O films

Electrodeposition was used to deposit Cu₂O thin films on ITO substrates. Photoresponse of the film clearly indicated n-type behavior of Cu₂O in photoelectrochemical cells. The temperature dependence of photoluminescence (PL) revealed that the spectra consist of donor-acceptor pair emissions and the recombination between electrons bound to donors and free holes. We observed that the dominant intrinsic defect, oxygen vacancies, creates a donor energy level at 0.38 eV below the bottom of the conduction band. As a result, this donor level acts as a center for both PL emissions and to produce n-type conductivity in the electrodeposited Cu₂O films. In addition, an acceptor energy level at 0.16 eV from the top of the valence band was observed.     

A Mathematical Representation of Quantizing the Motion of Relativistic Electrons in a Magnetic Field

It is shown that the quadratic component of the kinetic energy of continuous longitudinal motion of relativistic electrons in the external magnetic field is varied continuously between 0 and 2(2m _e c ²_B H) within each Landau energy level, undergoing an abrupt change at the boundaries of the levels. This results in the fact that in the quantum limit of a superstrong magnetic field where all electrons are at the zero Landau level, the maximum quadratic component of the kinetic energy of free longitudinal electron motion along the direction of the magnetic field is twice as high as the maximum quadratic component of the kinetic energy of its bound transverse motion.     

Inelastic electron collisions with Rydberg atoms

The standard classical method of computer simulation is used for evaluation of the inelastic cross section in electron collisions with a highly excited (Rydberg) atom. In the course of collision, the incident and bound electrons move along classical trajectories in the Coulomb field of the nucleus, and the scattering parameters are averaged over many initial conditions. The reduced ionization cross section of a Rydberg atom by electron impact approximately corresponds to that of atoms in the ground states with valence s-electrons and coincides with the results of the previous Monte Carlo calculations. The cross section of an atom transition between Rydberg atom states as a result of electron impact is used for finding the stepwise ionization rate constant of atoms in collisions with electrons or the rate constant of three-body electron-ion recombination in a dense ionized gas because these processes are determined by kinetics of highly excited atom states. Surprisingly, the low-temperature limit of electron temperatures is realized when the electron thermal energy is lower than the atom ionization potential by about three orders of magnitude, as follows from the kinetics of excited atom states. The article is published in the original.     

Numerical simulation of the temperature dependence of the ionization energy of hydrogen-like impurities in semiconductors: Application to transmutation-doped Ge: Ga

An electrostatic model describing the dependence of the thermal ionization energy of impurities on their concentration, compensation factor, and temperature is developed. The model takes into account the screening of impurity ions by holes (electrons) hopping from impurity to impurity, the change in the impurity-band width, and its displacement with respect to the edge of the valence band for acceptors (conduction band for donors). The displacement of the impurity band is due to the functional dependence of the hole (electron) affinity of the ionized acceptor (donor) on the screening of the Coulomb field of the ions. The spatial distribution of the impurity ions over the crystal was assumed to be Poisson-like, and the energy distribution was assumed to be normal (Gaussian). For the relatively low doping levels under investigation, the behavior of the density of states at the edges of the valence and conduction bands was assumed to be the same as for the undoped crystal. The results of the numerical study are in agreement with the decrease in the ionization energy that is experimentally observed for moderately compensated Ge: Ga as the temperature and the doping level are decreased. It is predicted that the temperature dependence of the thermal ionization energy has a small anomalous maximum at small compensation factors.     

Magnetic polaron contribution to donor bound exciton in Cd1−xMnxSe

Photoluminescence spectra associated with the donor bound exciton has been studied in Cd_1-xMn_xSe as a function of composition (x = .10, .05, and 0.0) and temperature in zero magnetic field. In comparison with the previously studied neutral donor, the bound exciton shows a large enhancement in its binding energy and broadening, attributed to the exchange interaction with the Mn⁺⁺-ion 3d electrons. In particular, a transition from a bound polaron to a fluctuation dominated regime is in evidence for x = .10 in this multiparticle system.     

Low temperature photoconductivity in electron - irradiated p-type Si

The photoconductivity spectra of p-type silicon irradiated at ～15 °K with 1.2 MeV electrons were studied in the wavelength range from 1.2 to 5.5 μ at temperatures from 23 to 80 °K. The 3.9 μ photoconductivity band appears immediately after irradiation in all crystals already at low temperatures, giving further evidence that it is due to the divacancy formed directly during irradiation by electrons. Three main annealing stages of the photoconductivity have been observed; (a) below 160 °K, (b) 160–250 °K, and (c) 280–360 °K. A radiation-induced deep level at E_v , +(0.12±0.02 eV disappears upon annealing at stage b. The annealing behavior of the spectra depends strongly on the measuring temperature. The dependence of the spectra on chopper speed was also investigated.     

Far-infrared photoconductivity from the shallow donors in n-InP

The wavenumber of the 1s → 2p transition of the shallow donor in n-type InP is found to be 46.3 ± 0.4 cm⁻¹ in zero magnetic field, giving a conduction band effective mass of 0.085 ± 0.005 m₀ and a donor binding energy of 0.00765 eV. The Zeeman splitting of this transition is observed and yields an effective mass of 0.0810 ± 0.0005 m₀. Sharp structure is found in the spectral response of the photoconductivity close to the frequency of the LO phonons. This structure may be related to ‘total negative photoconductivity’.     

L'Étude de la Structure Électronique des Métaux des Terres Rares

In rare earth metals, one can neglect interactions between 4f shells centred on neighbouring sites. The conduction band is occupied by three sd electrons (eventually two in europium and ytterbium). These sd electrons are coupled to the f electrons through an interaction of the form where s _e is the spin of a conduction electron and Sf _i the spin of the ith f electron of a given ion. It is therefore possible to consider two groups of properties:

1. The ones, related to the nature of the conduction electrons, change very little through the series: this is the case of the crystalline structure, of the atomic volume.

2. The others, such as the magnetic properties, are related to the internal shells and vary with the filling of the 4f shell. Experiment shows a correlation between those two groups of properties. De Gennes formalism, essentially valid in the hypothesis of tightly bound 4f electrons, gives a satisfactory picture of the properties of the metals in the second half of the series, but it does not give as good a picture for the first rare earth metals, especially for cerium. In the cerium free atom, the 4f, 5d, 6s states have comparable energies and one might think that, in the trivalent metal, the 4f states are broadened in energy by resonances with the extended sd states, but still do not overlap from one atom to the other. They would then occupy virtual bound states analogous to the virtual bound states described by Blandin and Friedel for the transition impurities in noble metals.

An identical situation seems to occur in ytterbium under pressure: one observes a huge increase of the electrical resistivity which goes back to low values at very high pressures. This might also be the case of the actinide metals, especially of Plutonium, in which the 5f states begin to stabilize. So we have to consider two cases:

1. The 4f electrons occupy bound states.

2. The 4f electrons occupy virtual bound states.

In the first part (§ 2), we use de Gennes formalism for 4f bound states. The energy related to magnetic interactions is computed making the assumption of a spherical Fermi surface. A correlation between the crystalline structure and the magnetic properties shows up. In the second half of the series, one can neglect the crystalline field effects and the total energy is the sum of the magnetic term and of the elastic term due to the contribution of the conduction electrons. For every state of magnetic order, the crystalline structure is well defined, corresponding to the minimum of the total energy, and conversely. It is possible to explain in this manner:

1. The b.c.c. structure of europium, which is unusual for a divalent transition metal.

2. The variation of the c/a ratio of the h.c.p. structure both through the series and with temperature.

3. The anomalies in the thermal expansion coefficient observed below the magnetic order-disorder transitions.

4. The helix pitch of the magnetic configurations of this type.

The anomalies of the thermoelectric power observed at the transition points are related to the different dependences of the spin correlations above and below the transition temperatures. The agreement between theory and experiment is satisfactory. Some discrepancy can be attributed to the rather crude approximation of a spherical Fermi surface.

In the second part (§ 3), we deal with a situation where the 4f electrons occupy virtual bound states. These levels are very narrow, about 10^?2 ev wide, and separated in energy by the correlations between electrons. Using Blandin's formalism we calculate the electrical and magnetic properties associated with such a situation. Calculations lead to very strong magnetic coupling; the indirect interaction between magnetic ions is antiferromagnetic for first nearest neighbours, whereas in the case of 4f bound states it is ferromagnetic. Finally, it is possible to explain the properties of cerium and ytterbium.

1. In Cerium, the two first levels overlap at the Fermi level, in such a way that the f electron be almost entirely distributed in the first level.

2. In ytterbium, under pressure, the fourteenth level comes across and above the Fermi level. The maximum resistivity is obtained for a half filling of this level.

In the third part (§ 4), we attempt to apply this model of virtual bound states to plutonium, although in this metal, the 5f shells have a larger spatial extension than the 4f orbitals in rare earths. Anomalies in several physical properties of plutonium seem to indicate a magnetic transition at about 65° K, but no anomaly shows up in the magnetic susceptibility. Using a virtual bound state model associated with a very small polarization of the 5f states, it is possible to explain all the physical properties of plutonium. This model leads to a very small magnetic moment, that cannot be detected by experiment.     

Far-infrared spectroscopy of impurities in semiconductors

Far-infrared spectroscopy of the electronic transitions between bound states of impurities provides a very high resolution technique for studying chemical shifts and thereby identifying residual contaminants. The use of photoconductivity generated within the sample itself, usually by the photothermal mechanism (“photothermal ionisation spectroscopy”), enables very high sensitivity to be achieved even with very thin films or ultrahigh-purity material. The current knowledge about the identity of the residual shallow donors in GaAs, InP, InAs and InSb obtained with this technique is reviewed. With high-purity materials the magneto-optical spectrum of the shallow donors can be particularly rich and more than fifty lines can be observed with both GaAs and InP.

Hydrostatic pressure provides a valuable additional experimental parameter in studies of impurities. Not only does the pressure-induced increase in mass improve the resolution of the “fine structure” due to different chemical species but additional states can be introduced into the forbidden energy gap. Results with both InSb and GaAs have shown that generally donors in direct-gap III-V materials may be expected to have three types of state: the familiar gamma-associated donors, localised states with A₁ symmetry which are normally resonant within the conduction band and metastable DX states.

Negatively charged shallow donor states (D^- states) and “molecular” combinations where the electrons are shared between two or more donor sites have been studied by infrared spectroscopy of III-V materials. These states are important precursors of the metal-insulator transition.

Recently there have been a number of studies of impurities within quantum wells and heterostructures. The dependence of impurity energy on distance from the well edge has been established and it has been shown that high concentrations of D^- states can be formed by remote deping of the structures.     

两种非晶碳化硅薄膜发光二极管

利用硅烷与甲烷的混合气在射频电场下的等离子体反应,淀积不同导电类型的非晶碳化硅薄膜,制成了p-i-n结注入型和均匀材料的碰撞电离型两种大面积发光二极管。本文报导这两种非晶发光器件的结构设计及光谱特性,并对器件的发光机现进行了讨论。     

A model of hopping and band DC photoconduction in doped crystals

Expressions for the screening length and the ambipolar diffusion length are derived, for the first time, for the case where hopping conduction and band conduction coexist in semiconductors with hydrogen-like impurities. A method is proposed for calculating the diffusion coefficient of electrons (holes) hopping between impurity atoms from data on the Hall effect, in the case where the hopping and band conductivities are equal. An interpretation is given of available experimental data on hopping photoconduction between acceptors (Ga) and donors (As) in p-Ge at T=4.2 K doped by a transmutation method. It is shown that the relative magnitude of the mobilities of electrons hopping between donors and holes hopping between acceptors can be found from the hopping photoconductivity measured as a function of the intensity of band-to-band optical carrier excitation.     

Impurity bands in a magnetic field of arbitrary strength

On the basis of the self-consistentt-matrix approximation for a system of quasi free electrons interacting with randomly distributed attractive-potentials, we discuss impurity bands in the presence of a magnetic field of arbitrary strength. We compare the results with existing theoretical work on the limiting cases of weak and strong magnetic fields, which are shown to be partly incompatible, and with experimental work onn-type InSb in the magnetic freeze-out regime. Satisfactory agreement is obtained between the thermal ionisation energy, evaluated from experiments, and the calculated gap energy, separating impurity band and conduction band.