Recombination-induced non-equilibrium phase transitions in semiconductors

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Abstract
Electron-hole and excitonic recombination processes in simple semiconductors are analysed for possible non-equilibrium phase transitions. A second-order type transition is found to be possible when impact ionization under an external electric field and radiative and Auger recombinations are taken into consideration. The order parameter of the transition is the electron concentration, and the control parameter is Ci-l where Ci is the impact ionization coefficient and l is an inverse carrier life-time for processes not considered explicitly. Using the Shockley model, some simple numerical estimates of the concentrations and electric field involved are made. It has also been shown that the quantum character of the carriers in semiconductors greatly limits the possibility of first-order-type phase transitions when one or two distinct types of fermions are involved with boson excitation.

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