Photo-magneto-electric effect in semi-insulating GaAs: carrier lifetimes and influence of the defect structure

We report the investigation of the Photo-Magneto-Electric effect (PME) in semi-insulating Liquid-Encapsulated (LEC-) grown GaAs crystals, using both intrinsic and impurity excitation. The role of the majority and minority carriers on the conductivity phenomena was evaluated and the lifetimes of electrons and holes were determined depending on excitation conditions. Anomalously high PME voltages, reaching in some cases some volts, were measured, which demonstrate a sharp drop in the temperature region 320–360K. The observed changes are discussed supposing that the influence of the non-homogeneous defect structure of the samples is essential.     

Hole dynamics in noble metals

Hole dynamics in noble metals (Cu and Au) is investigated by means of first-principles many-body calculations. While holes in a free-electron gas are known to live shorter than electrons with the same excitation energy, our results indicate that d holes in noble metals exhibit longer inelastic lifetimes than excited sp electrons, in agreement with experiment. The density of states available for d-hole decay is larger than that for the decay of excited electrons; however, the small overlap between d and sp states below the Fermi level increases the d-hole lifetime. The impact of d-hole dynamics on electron-hole correlation effects is also addressed.     

Inelastic quasiparticle lifetimes of the Shockley surface state band on Ni(111)

We present a study of the low-energy quasiparticle lifetimes of the Shockley surface state on the Ni(111) surface with scanning tunnelling spectroscopy. By measuring the coherence length of the decaying standing wave pattern at straight step edges electron and hole lifetimes have been determined. The values of the lifetime measured on this ferromagnetic surface show to be considerable smaller than the values obtained from noble metal surfaces. This is explained by differences in the electron density of states at the Fermi energy but has to include substantial spin-flip scattering. Furthermore hole lifetimes appear to be larger than electron lifetimes with the same excitation energy. Although only results for the majority spin component are presented, a spin-dependent selfenergy is expected.     

ZnS:Cu,Nd, Cl薄膜直流电致发光的激发态寿命和光谱强度

在真空中用共蒸发方法制的直流电致发光薄膜ZnS:Cu,Nd,Cl,实验中测量了它的可见和红外发射。本文研究了Nd3+离子的各个激发态的寿命各个辐射波长的发射强度与温度和外加电压的关系,发现导带中参与电致发光激发过程的热电子能量分布遵从玻尔兹曼函数,热电子平均能量是0.16eV左右,这个值和能量转换效率测量结果相一致。     

Relocalization of Ce 5d electrons from host conduction band

Single crystal fibers of Ce³⁺ doped SrAl₂O₄ and CaAl₄O₇ were prepared through the laser heated pedestal growth method. Sites dependent Ce³⁺ emissions were found at 385 nm (427 nm) and 420 nm (325 nm) in SrAl₂O₄ and CaAl₄O₇ hosts, respectively. The Ce³⁺ emissions at 385 nm and 420 nm in the two hosts exhibited strong afterglows. They could persist for more than 10 h. The long persistence and sites dependence of Ce³⁺ emissions were originated from charge compensation of doping Ce³⁺ into divalent cation sites. The lifetimes of Ce³⁺ emissions in both hosts were found to depend on the laser excitation wavelengths. With 266 nm laser excitation, Ce³⁺ 5d electrons were delocalized into the host's conduction band, resulting in a prolonged decay time. The 355 nm laser excitation did not delocalize the 5d electrons and hence the measured lifetimes were the intrinsic Ce³⁺ emission lifetimes that were 17 and 35.5 ns in SrAl₂O₄ and CaAl₄O₇ hosts, respectively. The prolonged Ce³⁺ emission lifetime on 266 nm laser excitation was because of the relocalization of the 5d electrons from the host conduction band. The lifetimes of Ce³⁺ 5d electrons within the conduction band were found to be 34 and 44 ns in SrAl₂O₄ and CaAl₄O₇ hosts, respectively.     

The conduction current in a metal-insulator-metal structure

The flow of the conduction current in a metal-insulator-metal structure under X-ray and optical excitation is considered. Accumulation of positive charge at the negative electrode in the KBr and CsI crystals is studied. The method of discharge currents after the X-ray and optical excitation is suggested for estimation of the near-surface charge. It is shown that the values of charge transported by the conduction current and those determined from the measured discharge-current signal are in satisfactory agreement. The lifetimes of near-surface charges of holes and anionic vacancies and the values of the electric-field strength at the metal-insulator interface are estimated. It is assumed that electroneutrality of the sample is established owing to the motion of electrons from the surface into the bulk over dislocations.     

室温下(Ga,Mn)As中载流子的自旋弛豫特性

运用飞秒时间分辨抽运-探测克尔光谱技术,研究了室温下退火及未退火(Ga,Mn)As的载流子自旋弛豫的激发能量密度依赖性,发现电子自旋弛豫时间随激发能量密度增加而增大,而在同一激发能量密度下,退火样品比未退火样品具有更短的载流子复合时间、电子自旋弛豫时间和更大的克尔转角,显示DP机理是室温下(Ga,Mn)As的电子自旋弛豫的主导机理.退火(Ga,Mn)As的超快克尔增强效应显示其在超高速全光自旋开关方面的潜在应用价值,也为(Ga,Mn)As铁磁性起源的p-d交换机理提供了证据. 关键词： (Ga Mn)As稀磁半导体 时间分辨克尔光谱 电子自旋弛豫 DP机理     

Quadruply excited beryllium-like atoms – a semiclassical model

The semiclassical spectrum of quadruply highly excited four-electron atomic systems has been calculated for the plane model of equivalent electrons. The energy of the system consists of rotational and vibrational modes within the circular skeleton orbit approximation, as used in a previous calculation for the triply excited three-electron systems. The full dynamical analysis is carried out within the Hamiltonian theory, accounting for the inertial effects and the complete coupling between different degrees of freedom. Here we present numerical results for energy spectrum of the beryllium atom. The lifetimes of the semiclassical states are estimated via the corresponding Lyapunov exponents. The vibrational modes relative contribution to the energy levels rises with the degree of the Coulombic excitation.     

A 1-D model of the photoluminescent decay of ZnS phosphors as a function of excitation conditions

We present measurements of the time-resolved photoluminescence of ZnS:Cu,Al that demonstrate how the lifetime and form of the strongly non-exponential decay depend on excitation conditions, such as pulse width and amplitude. To give some insight into the experimental observations we propose a phenomenological, correlated state model intended to describe aspects of the relaxation behavior of acceptor-donor luminescent materials. A comparison of simulation and experiment show that this simple model successfully describes many of our observations, such as a crossover from stretched exponential to power-law decay, and lifetimes that depend strongly on the excitation pulse width and amplitude. These effects are shown to be due to the development of spatial correlations between the electrons and holes. These correlations develop both during emission and continuous excitation.     

Fourier transform emission lifetime spectrometer

We report a rapid and low cost Fourier transform spectrometer that uses a path length modulated Michelson interferometer to simultaneously measure excitation spectra and excitation wavelength-dependent emission lifetimes. Excitation spectra and lifetimes of excited tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) measured using this technique corresponded to values known in the literature. Excitation-dependent lifetimes of porous silicon measured with this technique suggest the influence of quantum confinement effects. This method may be useful for measuring mixtures of emitting species with closely spaced lifetimes as well as studying excitation wavelength-dependent emission phenomena.     

Lifetime determination of materials that exhibit a stretched exponential luminescent decay

We report frequency- and time-domain luminescent lifetime measurements for materials that exhibit a broad spectrum of lifetimes, specifically, those for which the observed decay dynamics can be described by a stretched exponential function. The spectrum of lifetimes of such materials can be characterized by an average lifetime, and in principle this average can be extracted from either time- or frequency-domain measurements. In practice, this requires some care, because the extent to which the various states are excited depends on how long their lifetime is relative to the excitation pulse width or period. For the complex luminescent materials ZnS:Cu,Al and CdS quantum dots we compare the average lifetime obtained from frequency-domain data and from time-domain data under both pulsed laser excitation and steady-state, dc excitation. The agreement between the average measured lifetimes is good, but not perfect, showing that quoted average lifetimes for complex materials can be dependent on the measurement technique. Finally, a spectrum of lifetimes is given that gives rise to stretched exponential relaxation and this spectrum is used to compute frequency-domain data for a stretched exponential material.     

A proposed ablation laser

A new type of eximer laser is proposed; it involves the simultaneous sublimation and excitation of a frozen film by means of a relativistic electron beam. Calculated beam requirements for noble gases are ～ 10 kA/cm² of 400 kV electrons for periods of 2 to 12 ns. Predicted advantages of this laser are high gain and the elimination of wavelength limiting optical windows. Preliminary experimental fluorescence spectra have been obtained from xenon films. The emission from the solid phase consists primarily of two 100 Å wide bands centered at 1690 Å and 1730 Å the fluorescence lifetimes are 4 ± 2 ns for both bands.     

Energy spectra and lifetimes of quasiparticles in an open quantum dot surrounded by identical barriers in a cylindrical quantum wire

A theory of quasi-stationary states and lifetimes of electrons, holes, and excitons in an open cylindrical semiconductor quantum wire containing a quantum dot surrounded by two identical antidots (with potential barriers of finite height) is developed using the scattering matrix method. The energy spectra and lifetimes of electrons, holes, and excitons in a β-HgS/β-CdS/β-HgS/β-CdS/β-HgS nanoheterosystem are calculated and analyzed as functions of the geometric parameters of the quantum dot involved. It is demonstrated that an increase in the height of the quantum dot leads to a decrease in the energy of quasi-stationary exciton states of the Breit-Wigner type and to an increase in their lifetimes. The lifetime of exciton states is long enough for these states to be observed in the experiment.     

New lifetime estimates for d-band holes at noble metal surfaces

56 , 239 (1997)]. One of several attempts to give an at least qualitative interpretation requires a delayed electron generation via Auger decay of d-band holes [E. Knoesel, A. Hotzel, M. Wolf: Phys. Rev. B 57, 12812 (1998)]. We present experimental evidence from the analysis of line widths in high-resolution one-photon photoemission spectra, that indeed d-holes in Cu, Ag and Au exhibit systematically longer lifetimes than excited s,p-band electrons of the corresponding excitation energy. Received: 15 October 1998     

Effects of electron-vibration coupling in transport through single molecules

Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we study the transport of electrons through C(60)?molecules on different metal surfaces. When electrons tunnel through a molecule, they may excite molecular vibrations. A fingerprint of these processes is a characteristic sub-structure in the differential conductance spectra of the molecular junction reflecting the onset of vibrational excitation. Although the intensity of these processes is generally weak, they become more important as the resonant character of the transport mechanism increases. The detection of single vibrational levels crucially depends on the energy level alignment and lifetimes of excited states. In the limit of large current densities, resonant electron-vibration coupling leads to an energy accumulation in the molecule, which eventually leads to its decomposition. With our experiments on C(60)?we are able to depict a molecular scale picture of how electrons interact with the vibrational degrees of freedom of single molecules in different transport regimes. This understanding helps in the development of stable molecular devices, which may also carry a switchable functionality.     

Characterisation of a 3 nanosecond pulsed atmospheric pressure argon microplasma

This study details the generation and characterisation of a 3 nanosecond pulsed atmospheric pressure argon microdischarge, and provides a comparison with a comparable DC microplasma. There is a growing interest in short pulsed excitation of microplasmas as a gateway to access highly non-equilibrium discharge chemistry that is inaccessible using other excitation mechanisms. By combining time-resolved electrical and optical diagnostics the repetitive 3 nanosecond pulses considered in this study are shown to produce a highly transient plasma with a peak dissipated power above 160 kW and electron densities in excess of 10¹⁷ cm^-3. During the afterglow period electrons rapidly cool below the excitation threshold suggesting emission from excited argon neutrals should also diminish rapidly. However, argon emissions are observed for several microseconds after each applied pulse, far in excess of their radiative lifetimes. Potential repopulation mechanisms are considered and it is concluded that electron-ion recombination is the most likely repopulation process.     

Excitonic effects and optical properties of passivated CdSe clusters

We calculate the optical properties of a series of passivated nonstoichiometric CdSe clusters using two first-principles approaches: time-dependent density functional theory within the local-density approximation, and by solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation for optical excitations with the GW approximation for the self-energy. We analyze the character of optical excitations leading to the first low-energy peak in the absorption cross section of these clusters. Within time-dependent density functional theory, we find that the lowest-energy excitation is mostly a single-level to single-level transition. In contrast, many-body methods predict a strong mixture of several different transitions, which is a signature of excitonic effects. The majority of the clusters have a series of dark transitions before the first bright transition. This may explain the long radiative lifetimes observed experimentally.     

激光大气等离子体时间演化特性的光谱研究

采用延时光谱法和谱线演化法 ,对YAG脉冲激光器 1 0 6 μm光束击穿一个大气压的空气所产生的等离子体进行了时间分辨光谱研究。对激光大气等离子体连续光谱的短波带与长波带分别进行了时间分辨测量 ,结果表明两者的衰变速率均在等离子体激发约 0 5微秒以后明显变慢。分析认为这种衰变速率的变慢可能与空气中氧对自由电子的吸附与去吸附有关。对激光大气等离子体线状光谱所作的时间分辨测量则表明 ,大部分线状光谱的演化寿命大于其标称寿命 ,部分线状光谱还呈现“衰变—增涨—衰变”的复杂形式。分析认为线状光谱的这些演化特征可能与等离子体在衰变期间的各种复合过程和能量转移过程有关。     

Testing Fluorescence Lifetime Standards using Two-Photon Excitation and Time-Domain Instrumentation: Rhodamine B,Coumarin 6 and Lucifer Yellow

Having good information about fluorescence lifetime standards is essential for anyone performing lifetime experiments. Using lifetime standards in fluorescence spectroscopy is often regarded as a straightforward process, however, many earlier reports are limited in terms of lifetime concentration dependency, solvents and other technical aspects. We have investigated the suitability of the fluorescent dyes rhodamine B, coumarin 6, and lucifer yellow as lifetime standards, especially to be used with two-photon excitation measurements in the time-domain. We measured absorption and emission spectra for the fluorophores to determine which wavelengths we should use for the excitation and an appropriate detector range. We also measured lifetimes for different concentrations, ranging from 10^?2– 10^?6 M, in both water, ethanol and methanol solutions. We observed that rhodamine B lifetimes depend strongly on concentration. Coumarin 6 provided the most stable lifetimes, with a negligible dependency on concentration and solvent. Lucifer yellow lifetimes were also found to depend little with concentration. Finally, we found that a mix of two fluorophores (rhodamine B/coumarin 6, rhodamine B/lucifer yellow, and coumarin 6/lucifer yellow) all yielded very similar lifetimes from a double-exponential decay as the separate lifetimes measured from a single-exponential decay. All lifetime measurements were made using two-photon excitation and obtaining lifetime data in the time-domain using time-correlated single-photon counting.