Title :
Theoretical investigation of carrier relaxation processes in quantum wells and their effect on radiative and Auger recombination
Author :
Zegrya, Georgy G. ; Dogonkine, Eugen B. ; Polkovnikov, Anatoli S.
Author_Institution :
A.F. Ioffe Physicotech. Inst., Acad. of Sci., St. Petersburg, Russia
Abstract :
In this paper we study the effect of carrier relaxation processes on Auger and radiative recombination in semiconductor quantum wells (QWs). Electron (hole)-electron (hole) and electron-phonon relaxation mechanisms are studied in detail. General expressions for the rates of the two recombination processes with account of the complex valence band structure are derived. It is shown that the relaxation doesn´t play an important role for Auger transition in narrow quantum wells, while it is necessary to take it into account in wide quantum wells, where the free path length of the carriers is less than the QW width
Keywords :
Auger effect; carrier relaxation time; electron-hole recombination; electron-phonon interactions; semiconductor quantum wells; valence bands; Auger recombination; carrier relaxation processes; complex valence band structure; electron-phonon relaxation mechanisms; free path length; quantum wells; radiative recombination; Charge carrier processes; Conductors; Electronic switching systems; Optical scattering; Particle scattering; Phonons; Quantum mechanics; Radiative recombination; Spontaneous emission; Wave functions;
Conference_Titel :
Semiconductor Conference, 1999. CAS '99 Proceedings. 1999 International
Conference_Location :
Sinaia
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5139-8
DOI :
10.1109/SMICND.1999.810535