Direct measurement of the recombination rates in bulk InSb by time-resolved photoluminescence

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Abstract
Time‐resolved photoluminescence has been used to study the decay of photoexcited carriers in bulk InSb at 2 K. The recombination occurs as a two step process exhibiting a fast and a slow decay. The fast decay, corresponding to band‐to‐band recombination, occurs with a time constant of the order of 60 nsec and is accompanied by time‐resolved band gap renormalization. The slow process, identified in the band‐to‐acceptor photoluminescence, occurs with a time constant of 3.8 μsec. We show that this is in excellent agreement with the theoretical value of the band‐to‐acceptor radiative transition rate. These results help reconcile discrepancies that have long existed between conventional photoluminescence measurements and time‐resolved photoconductivity measurements.