Auger coefficient of GaP(Zn, O). II. Evaluation from the temperature dependence of the luminescence efficiency

Measurements have been made of the luminescence efficiency of several $p-\mathrm{GaP}(\mathrm{Zn},\mathrm{O})$ samples as a function of temperature. The relative variation of the efficiency is known to depend both on the Auger effect at the (Zn, O) center and on the fraction of excitation lost through alternate paths. Arguments are presented that the loss to alternate paths should be relatively independent of temperature. This is confirmed by comparison with data on the luminescent decay time. Consequently, we can obtain values of the Auger coefficient from the measurements. The exact value depends on the Hall factor and on the role of screening, but is within the range (2-5) × ${10}^{-11\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^3$/sec.