Exciton molecules and exciton liquids in semiconductors

Excitons in many-valley semiconductors form molecules consisting of four and more excitons. The degeneracy factor g of the conduction band in germanium is 8, and in silicon g=12. As in acceptors, the hole ground state in excitons is fourfold degenerate. The same is valid for exciton molecules, because they are quantum objects with spherical symmetry. The exciton binding energy in molecules is close to that in exciton-liquid droplets. Experimental evidence is considered for the existence, besides biexcitons, of stable exciton molecules consisting of three and four, and, possibly, 11 and 12 excitons. Molecules containing from five to ten excitons are apparently unstable. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 929–931 (May 1998)