Steady state photocurrent and photoluminescence from single quantum wells as a function of temperature and bias

We have studied the variation with applied bias and temperature of steady state photoluminescence (DCPL) and photoconductivity (DCPC) from a series of GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum well, p-i-n structures with different well widths. We present the DCPC and DCPL results, which when combined, allow us to assess how significant nonradiative recombination is in the samples and hence the quality of the material. We discuss the qualitative features in the light of a new theoretical approach presented here for the first time. This includes contributions from escape (of both electrons and holes) and makes it possible to extract from the experimental data two parameters, each reflecting the competition between escape and one of the recombination processes (radiative or nonradiative) in the absence of the other. We further comment qualitatively on the bias and temperature dependence of these different processes. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.