Photolysis of thallium azide

Preliminary treatment of TlN₃(A) with light (λ = 365 nm, I > 1 × 10¹⁴ quantum cm⁻² s⁻¹) in a vacuum (1 × 10⁻⁵ Pa) at 293 K led to the formation of a new long-wave region of spectral sensitivity. The products of photolysis of TlN₃(A) thallium and nitrogen formed in the stoichiometric ratio on the sample surface. The topography and kinetics of thallium accumulation were determined, and the effective rate constants for photolysis evaluated. Measurements of the contact voltage, current-voltage characteristics, and photocurrent showed that the photolysis of thallium azide resulted in the formation of TlN₃(A)-Tl (photolysis product) microheterogeneous systems. A model of photolysis of TlN₃(A) was suggested. According to this model, photolysis included the generation, recombination, and redistribution of nonequilibrium charge carriers in the contact field and the formation of the end products of photolysis. The limiting stage of photolysis of TlN₃(A) was the diffusion of interstitial thallium cations toward the neutral (T _n Tl _m )⁰ center. Original Russian Text ? E.P. Surovoi, L.I. Shurygina, L.N. Bugerko, N.V. Borisova, 2009, published in Zhurnal Fizicheskoi Khimii, 2009, Vol. 83, No. 4, pp. 784–790.