Minority carriers recombination in n-InP single crystals

We present a comprehensive study of minority carrier lifetime and recombination mechanisms in n-InP single crystals. The study is based on steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements in a wide temperature range (15–300 K). Various recombination and trapping mechanisms are analyzed and compared in order to assess their influence on the effective hole lifetime. It was found that two main processes govern the hole lifetime: radiative band-to-band recombination at temperatures >100 K and nonradiative trapping in unintentional induced acceptor centers at low temperatures (<100 K). A fit of the measured effective bulk lifetime to a recombination model based on these two processes enabled us to extract the rate constant for the radiative band-to-band recombination, and the density of the acceptor-like trapping centers.