Excitonic and electron-hole mechanisms of the creation of Frenkel defect in alkali halides

Excitonic and electron-hole (e-h) mechanisms of stable F centre creation by VUV radiation in alkali halide crystals are discussed. In KCl at 4.2 K, the efficiency of stable F-H pair creation is especially high at the direct optical formation of tripler excitons with n = 1. At 200 400 K, the creation processes of stable F centres in KCl are especially efficient at the formation of one-halide exciton in the Urbach tail of an exciton absorption. In KCl and KBr, the decay of a cation exciton (similar to 20 eV) causes the formation of two e-h pairs, while in NaCl a cation exciton (33.5 eV) decays into two e-h and an anion exciton. An elastic uniaxial stress of a crystal excited by VUV radiation decreases the mean free path of excitons before their self-trapping (KI) and increases the mean free path of hot holes before self-trapping (NaCl). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.