Studies of Nonradiative Recombination in Insulators and Semiconductors via the Principle of Detailed Balance

Abstract

Experimental confirmation of detailed balance to an accuracy of 3$ is described for the R lines of ruby. The method avoids the problems introduced by the presence of vibronic transitions or nonradiative transitions. Separate measurements demonstrate the actual presence of a small amount of nonradiative de-excitation in ruby whose dependence on temperature suggests a multiphonon process. An apparent failure of detailed balance in bound exciton emission in donor-doped GaP or Si at low temperature can be well explained by an Auger process occurring in a complex consisting of an exciton bound to a neutral donor.