Enhanced hot-electron photoluminescence from heavily carbon-doped GaAs

Abstract
An enhancement of hot‐electron photoluminescence due to degenerate conditions in the valence band has been observed in metalorganic molecular beam epitaxial grown GaAs:C with net acceptor concentration of up to 4×1020 cm3. The photoluminescence (PL) was studied as a function of free‐carrier concentration and sample temperature. Comparison of the PL spectra from the heavily doped GaAs to that of undoped material shows a peak shift to lower energy coupled with a greatly enhanced high‐energy tail extending into the visible region of the spectrum. At 300 K, luminescence at 1.8 eV is observed at 20% the intensity of the peak luminescence at 1.36 eV.