Temperature dependence of interface recombination and radiative recombination in (Al, Ga)As heterostructures

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Abstract
From measurements of the quantum efficiency of Al0.12Ga0.88As‐Al0.47Ga0.53As double heterostructures the effective nonradiative carrier lifetime in the active region and at its interfaces is determined. From the dependence of this lifetime on active layer thickness a value for the interface recombination velocity s is obtained. For a particular sample grown by liquid phase epitaxy s turned out to be 1050 cm/s at 300 K; between 110 and 360 K the interface recombination velocity is proportional to exp(−Ea/kT) with an activation energy Ea of 27 meV. In the analysis the radiative coefficient B is taken to be proportional to T−1.5, as theory predicts when a k‐selection rule holds. This behavior of B was verified experimentally with temperature‐dependent minority‐carrier lifetime measurements.