Charged and neutral excitonic complexes in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

The temperature and magnetic-field dependences of the recombination line of multiparticle excitonic complexes in undoped and lightly doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells are investigated. These dependences have previously been attributed to free charged excitons (trions). It is shown that this line corresponds to a bound state of a complex, specifically, to an exciton bound on a neutral donor in a barrier. It is found that as the temperature or pump power is raised, there appear in the recombination spectrum not only a cyclotron replica shifted downward in energy but also a replica which is symmetrically shifted upwards in energy by an amount equal to the cyclotron energy and which is due to emission from an excited state of an impurity complex. The behavior of the cyclotron replicas is studied as a function of the electron density and temperature. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 11, 730–735 (10 December 1997)     

Exciton system heating in ZnSe single crystals under laser excitation

The way to determine the effective temperature of the excitonic system from the study of the edge luminescence high energy region is motivated. Experimental data on the exciton heating in ZnSe single crystals under laser excitation are presented. The effective temperature of excitons T_x has reached 158 K at the lattice temperature T_L = 77 and the peak excitation intensity 2.7 MW cm^?2 (hv₀ = 3.50), while the excess temperature of the excitons (T_x ? T_L) increases as a square root of the pump intensity. Exciton-hot-electron, exciton-hot-photon, exciton-exciton interactions and excitonic Auger process are considered as possible causes of the exciton system heating.     

Excitons in highly optically excited gallium phosphide

A study has been made of luminescence in weakly (10¹⁵-10¹⁶ cm^-3) and heavily (10¹⁸-10¹⁹ cm^-3) N-doped GaP crystals induced by 1.78, 2.34 and 3.56 eV photons from Q-switched ruby or neodymium lasers with a KDP crystal for second harmonic generation. The results which were obtained at excitations up to 10²⁰ cm^-3 electron-hole pairs are interpreted as the transitions: single bound excitons, bound excitonic molecules, free excitons in weakly-doped GaP, as well as Auger processes and the formation of a new excitonic state similar to a solid metal with high density of single excitons and excitonic molecules bound to isoelectronic traps in heavily-doped GaP.     

Induced absorption and gain from high density excitons in CdS

Induced absorption and gain in CdS at 1.8 K has been investigated under excitation densities up to 10 MW cm^?2. The absorption and gain below the free exciton energy is governed by exciton interactions and optical conversion of excitons into excitonic molecules. At the highest density, induced transparency due to excitonic molecule recombinations is observed. E_M=5.1002 eV is determined.     

Charged magnetoexcitons in two-dimensions: magnetic translations and families of dark states

We show that optical transitions of charged excitons in semiconductor heterostructures are governed in magnetic fields by a novel exact selection rule, a manifestation of magnetic translations. It is shown that the spin-triplet ground state of the quasi-two-dimensional charged exciton X--a bound state of two electrons and one hole-is optically inactive in photoluminescence at finite magnetic fields. Internal bound-to-bound X- triplet transition has a specific spectral position, below the electron cyclotron resonance, and is strictly prohibited in a translationally invariant system. These results allow one to discriminate between free and disorder-affected charged excitons.     

Photoluminescence characterization of vertically aligned ZnO microrods

A detailed optical characterization of vertically aligned ZnO microrods (μRs) grown using a Ni-based catalyst was carried out by excitation-power- and temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Low-temperature PL spectra of ZnO μRs are dominated by near-band-edge (NBE) emission consisted of a series of sharp lines typical for the bulk ZnO. Starting from the higher energy free exciton (FX) emission feature, the majority of them can be explained by radiative recombination of excitons bound to neutral donors (D⁰X), defect bound exciton (DBX), two-electron satellites emission, free-to-bound, i.e. free electrons to the neutral acceptors (eA⁰) transition, as well as their longitudinal-optical phonon replicas. An additional excitonic line located in between the FX and D⁰X lines, denoted as the surface excitons (SX) for ZnO μRs is observed. The intensity of the SX line is found to be smaller than that of the nanosized counterpart and has been attributed to the surface–volume ratio effects. The excitation-power-dependent results of FX line at low and high power regimes show quite close values corresponding to, respectively, p=2 and p=1 limits of the theoretical power law expression I～L^p and larger deviations for the D⁰X, SX and DBX lines. The temperature-dependent measurements confirmed the presence of eA⁰ line showing kT/2 influence to the position of eA⁰ emission line in comparison with FX. FX emissions persist up to 300 K and together with the dominant eA⁰ emission govern the line shape of the NBE emission range, while D⁰X and SX lines are quenched completely at 150 K.     

Superfluidity of “dirty” excitons

The effect of a random field due to impurities, boundary irregularities, and so on, on the superfluidity of a three-dimensional system of excitons and a quasi-two-dimensional system of direct or spatially indirect excitons is studied. The influence of a random field on the density of the superfluid component in the indicated excitonic systems at low temperatures T is investigated. The interaction between excitons is taken into account in the ladder approximation. For quasi-two-dimensional excitonic systems in a random field the Kosterlitz-Thouless temperature in the superfluid state is calculated.     

Exciton spatial dispersion determined through the two-photon Raman scattering via excitonic molecule state at large wave vectors in CuCl

With simultaneous excitation of two dye laser beams the Raman scattering is studied in which the intermediate state is the excitonic molecule and the final states are the longitudinal and transverse excitons. The L-T splitting shows a large k-dependence. The effective masses are determined to be (2.3 ± 0.1)m₀ and (3.1 ± 0.1)m₀ for the transverse and longitudinal excitons, respectively.     

Free and localized positively charged excitons in the emission spectrum of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

The recombination emission spectra of an excitonic complex (A ⁰ X) localized on a neutral acceptor, which have previously been attributed to a positively charged exciton (X ⁺), are investigated. Satellites arising around the main luminescence line as a result of recoil processes during recombination of the complex which leave the surviving hole in an excited state are observed and investigated. It is shown in a computational model based on the Luttinger Hamiltonian that the energy splittings between the main line and the satellites correspond to an in-barrier impurity center located a definite distance from the well. It is shown that as the magnetic field increases, a transition is observed from the singlet ground state of the complex to a multiplet state. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 3, 223–228 (10 August 1998)     

Magneto-Luminescence of excitons bound to neutral acceptor in cadmium telluride

The radiative recombination of excitons bound to neutral acceptor (A⁰, X) in high-purity CdTe has been investigated in magnetic fields up to 100 KG. A doublet structure observed in (A⁰, X) emission line is explained by considering the j-j coupling between two holes and an electron. Zeeman splittings in emission lines originate from the transition between J = 1/2 and 3/2 states in bound-exciton complex, and the acceptor-ground state. It is supposed that the acceptor which binds excitons is due to certain complex having C_3υ symmetry which is lower than the host lattice.     

Core excitons in the soft X-ray region: Solid argon

A theoretical calculation of core excitons is performed for the L_II,III soft X-ray threshold of solid argon at ～ 245 eV. The binding energies and the relative transition amplitudes for the lowest allowed exciton states are computed by formulating the problem in terms of Wannier functions and solving the resulting integral equation in the one-site approximation. The results obtained allow to locate the onset of interband transitions at an energy a few eV above previous theoretical determinations. Therefore, sharp structure previously interpreted in terms of conduction band density of states is attributed to discrete excitonic transitions, as strongly suggested by the close analogy with the atomic absorption spectrum. A comparison with the fundamental excitonic absorption in the vacuum ultra violet region is carried out in terms of the ratio of the electron-hole exchange interaction to the spin-orbit splitting of the hole states.     

The elastic scattering of polarized 3He by 3He and excitation in the 6Be system

Angular distributions of the polarization in the elastic scattering of ³He by ³He have been measured at eight energies between 18 and 33 MeV, corresponding to excitation of ⁶Be between 20.5 and 28 MeV. The measurements were made using the 33 MeV polarised ³He beam at the University of Birmingham Radial Ridge cyclotron and a small gas target. The data have been analysed in terms of real and complex phase shifts. The deduced phase shift energy dependence cannot be associated with a single isolated level in ⁶Be, however an application of the two-level R-matrix formula reveals some broad L = 3 structures around E_x = 25 MeV.     

A silicon donor layer in heavily doped GaN

The properties of GaN layers heavily doped with silicon are investigated via photoluminescence spectroscopy. It is shown that excitons cease localizing on donors at a silicon atom concentration of 1.6 × 10¹⁹ cm^?3; at higher dopant concentrations, the excitons decay. It is established that the donor binding energy falls as the silicon concentration rises.     

Plasmons in semiconductors and insulators: A simple formula

Based on the dielectric function of an excitonic system, a simple model dielectric function is constructed. The high energy zero of this function yields the plasma frequency, and is given by: (hω_x)² = (hω_f)² + E_x² where ω_f is the free electron plasma frequency and E_x the lowest exciton energy. It is argued that this formula is valid for both, Frenkel and Wannier excitons, and comparison is made with experiments on a variety of crystals, ranging from InSb to Ar. In all cases, surprisingly good agreement is found.     

Exciton lifetime in quantum well with vicinal high-density excitons

Radiative lifetime of an exciton in a GaAs quantum well (QW) is controlled by high-density excitons, which restrict the exciton coherence through scattering. In order to circumvent the phase space filling effect of high-density excitons, we have prepared a QW structure in such a way that a reservoir for high-density excitons is separated from the QW. The lifetime increases (up to 30%) with the exciton density in the reservoir and saturates at 1×10¹⁷/cm³. The upper bound lifetime is determined by the excitonic relative motion.     

Nonlocal excitonic–mechanical interaction in a nanosystem

The dynamics of a nanoparticle during its dipole interaction with an excitonic excitation in an extended quasi-one-dimensional polarizable medium is investigated. Bundles of J-aggregates of dye molecules are considered as an example of the latter. The nonlocal excitonic–mechanical interaction between the field of an amplifying or absorbing nanoparticle and excitons in a bundle has been simulated numerically. It has been found that the interaction between the field of the induced nanoparticle dipole and the fields of the molecular dipoles in an aggregate can lead to a change in the particle trajectory and excitonic pulse shape. The possibility of controlling the nanoparticle by excitonic pulses and the reverse effect of the nanoparticle field on the dynamics of excitons due to the nonlocal excitonic–mechanical interaction has been demonstrated.     

Resonance exciton-phonon spectra in open ZnCdSe/ZnSe nanowires: Raman scattering and hot luminescence,extended and localized exciton states

Low-temperature (T ～ 8 K) secondary emission spectra of open Zn_0.87Cd_0.13Se/ZnSe nanowires were studied comprehensively in the region of the ground excitonic state under tunable laser excitation. The spectra revealed a fine structure produced in the interaction of excitons with optical phonons. The observed resonance exciton-phonon (REP) lines are shown to be formed through two different mechanisms. The strongest component is due to Raman scattering via free excitonic states. The other REP lines are generated in the hot luminescence of localized excitons. The spectrum of the optical phonons involved in the formation of the REP lines in the biaxially strained Zn_0.87Cd_0.13Se/ZnSe structures was analyzed.     

Diffusion of excitons and electron-hole drops in germanium

Diffusion of excitons and electron-hole drops is investigated in pure germanium, using a time-resolved cyclotron resonance method. The diffusion coefficient of excitons at 4.2 K is obtained to be ≈ 1000 cm²/sec. For electron-hole drops, when excitation is not so high, it is expected to be lower than ≈ 500 cm²/sec at 1.6 K.     

Dynamics of excitonic states in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

The influence of photoexcited carriers on the dynamics of the absorption spectra of GaAs/Al_xGa_1−2x As multilayer quantum wells is investigated experimentally. It is found that at quasiparticle densities all the way up to 10¹¹ cm⁻² the saturation of the excitonic absorption is due to both a decrease of oscillator strength and broadening of the excitonic lines. It is shown that in the case of femtosecond resonance laser exci-tation the decrease of oscillator strength is due to free electron-hole pairs, while the broadening and energy shift of the excitonic lines are due to the exciton-exciton interaction. The lifetimes of free electron-hole pairs and excitons (≈65 ps and ≈410 ps, respectively) are determined from the exponential decrease of the change in the oscillator strength and in the width and energy position of the excitonic lines. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 3, 139–144 (10 August 1997)     

Effect of temperature on processes of radiation-induced generation of primary defects in MgF<Subscript>2</Subscript> crystals

The spectral and kinetic parameters of the absorption and emission relaxation initiated by a single nanosecond-range electron pulse in MgF₂ crystals are studied in the temperature range 20–550 K. It is found that the relationship between the two channels of dissipation of the electronic excitation energy (generation of F centers and short-lived excitons) does not depend on the temperature of the irradiated crystal in the temperature range 20–120 K and changes in favor of the F centers at T≥150 K. The temperature quenching of the 3.2-eV exciton emission at T≥60 K is detected. The ionic structure of the short-lived excitonic state is discussed.