Nonsteady photoconductivity of layers of glass of the As-Se system

This article examines experimental results from a study of impulsive photoconductivity in layers of glasses of As_xSe_100–x (30-@#@ 60). It was found that thermal and laser treatment (thermo- and photostructural changes) affect the character of relaxation processes in photoconduction in freshly prepared layers. It was also established that both annealing at temperatures near the softening point of the glass and laser irradiation with quantum energies exceeding the width of the forbidden band are accompanied by a change in the recombination lifetime of nonequilibrium carriers. It is concluded on the basis of empirical data that an efficient recombination channel complementary to the main channel (tunnel transition of the type 2D⁰D⁺+D^–) is present in freshly prepared layers. The latter is present in annealed layers. The additional recombination channel is related to the existence of homopolar bonds in binary arsenic selenides and is proven to exist by data on the effect of composition on photocurrent relaxation.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 66–71, May, 1987.