DECAY MODES WITH COHERENT RESONANT-ENERGY TRANSFER BETWEEN DEEP IMPURITIES IN SOLIDS

Attention is called to the existence of new decay modes for deep impurities in solids associated with coherence in the resonant-energy transfer between them. The theoretical decay rate R of the two-impurity complex is of the form R(t)=C1exp(-γ1t)+C2exp(-γ2t)+exp[-12(γ1+γ2)t] ×ReDexp(-iΔt), with Cn, γn real positive, Δ real, and D complex. The oscillations in time t exhibited by the third term in the expression for R provide an experimental test for the coherence effect. The partial rate Rν(t) for radiative decay is of the same form as the total rate R(t). In the analysis, use is made of an analogy between the decay of the excited impurity complex and that of K0 mesons in particle physics, where similar coherent oscillations have been observed experimentally. © 1968 The American Physical Society.