Radiative recombination at a heterojunction
Alferov Zh. I., Vasil'ev A. M., Kop'ev P. S., Kochereskho V. P., Ural'tsev I. N., Efros Al. L., Yakovlev D. R.
A new mechanism for radiative recombination at a heterojunction has been found. This mechanism results from transitions from donors in the narrow-gap material to acceptor-like surface states. The basic characteristics of the photoluminescence band associated with this process, such as the large (15-meV) energy shift with an increase in the excitation intensity, the exponential dependence of the radiative lifetime on the spectral position, and the anomalous behavior in a magnetic field, are determined by tunneling recombination of donor-acceptor pairs at the heterojunction.