Influence of Transverse Modes on Photoconductive Decay in Filaments

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The roles of high order modes are discussed for the decay of excess carriers in a semiconducting filament. A general solution is given for the strength of the various modes when excess generation (i.e., illumination) is any function of time and space. Solutions for several specific cases are illustrated in graphical and tabular form. It is well known from the discussions of Shockley and of Stevenson and Keyes that odd‐numbered modes can augment the surface recombination of the fundamental mode: the present calculations show that for typical generative procedures this increased recombination is considerably more serous than has been generally supposed. The role is noted of even numbered (antisymmetric) modes, which contribute nothing to filament photoconductance, but which arise under antisymmetric generation conditions to describe transverse diffusion (and usually to disturb the relative amplitudes of the odd modes). Attention is drawn to the fact that some odd modes can have a generative behavior when carrier creation is a suitable function of position. This is turned to advantage in suggesting how lifetime may be measured in a filament with minimum interference from the surface.

This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit: