Abstract
The authors have investigated the consequences of multi-hole localization at defect sites on the GaP(110) surface: the relaxation of the lattice and the emission of atoms due to bond breaking. It is shown that the combination of localization of two-hole states on a defect with cascade excitation results in emission of an atom from the defect. The results support the mechanism suggested by Hattori et al. (1990) of defect-initiated emission of Ga atoms under laser irradiation, of which the yield is a superlinear function of laser fluence.