Auger Recombination in Luminescent, CMOS-compatible Si Nanowires

Auger recombination is an important process limiting stimulated optical emission in many semiconductor systems as it is especially prevalent at high excitation intensities. We have quantified the Auger rate in TiSi₂-catalyzed Si nanowires by determining an Auger coefficient from time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) data. Above a threshold excitation intensity, the PL decay lifetime at 1.55 eV (800 nm) shortens with increasing excitation, suggesting that Auger recombination is the dominant non-radiative process at high excitation. The determined Auger rates are greater than that for bulk, but an order of magnitude less than that measured for nanoparticles.