Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
We report a detailed study of the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of bound excitons (BE:s) in silicon, related to shallow impurities and deep complex defects, as a function of DC and high frequency AC (9GHz) electric fields. Two experimental approaches are presented. The first involves a simultaneous recording of PL and photocurrent under pulsed DC excitation. The second utilizes the optically detected cyclotron resonance (ODCR) technique, which allows detection of cyclotron resonance (CR) via the resonancetransition- induced changes of BE PL intensity. The mechanism responsible for the PL changes is shown to be the impact ionization of BE:s by hot free carriers. Effects of sample inhomogeneities in these experiments are also discussed.
Permanent address: Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-668 Warsaw, Al.Lotnikow 32/46, Poland