DETERMINATION OF THERMODYNAMICAL PARAMETERS OF THE EHD IN SILICON FROM LUMINESCENCE DATA

The usual lineshape calculation of the EHD emission in silicon by a convolution integral over the densities of states of electrons and holes results in a considerable deviation from the experimental photoluminescence spectrum on the low energy side. As shown in this paper, agreement between the experimentally determined and the calculated lineshape is considerably improved as lifetime broadening of the final states of the recombination is taken into account. As a consequence of this lineshape fit improved parameters for the EHD in Si are obtained (carrier temperature 5 K): carrier density n = (3.5 ± 0.05) × 1018 cm−3, work function Φ = − 9.3 meV. Furthermore, for the first time a lineshape analysis of the TA‐phonon assisted emission is given which allows to check the validity of the composition of the much stronger TO/LO phonon assisted luminescence out of the two components. From the carrier density within the EHD and the lifetime a value of the Coulomb enhancement factor is estimated and compared with published theoretical data. Copyright © 1979 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA