Light emission at the E1 and E1+Δ1 gaps in heavily doped p-type Ge and GaAs

We report the observation in heavily doped p-type germanium (N_h ≥ 10¹⁸cm^?3) of two weak light emission bands centered at the energies of the E₁ and E₁+Δ₁ interband gaps (2.22 and 2.42 eV at 80 K). These bands, which are 100% polarized, are found only for excitation with laser frequencies slightly above the gaps. We attribute them to photon scattering by inter-valence-band excitations of the holes associated with the heavy doping. The fact that the emission bands do not shift with the exciting laser frequency is assigned to a strong resonance enhancement of this scattering near the E₁ and E₁+Δ₁ gaps. We have also observed the corresponding light emission at the E₁ gap (3.0 eV) in p-type GaAs.