Temperature dependence of the radiative recombination coefficient in crystalline silicon by spectral and modulated photoluminescence

Abstract : Phone: þ33 (0)169851645, Fax: þ33 (0)169418318 By the combination of temperature-dependent spectral photo-luminescence with modulated photoluminescence measurements the band-to-band radiative recombination coefficient is determined for crystalline silicon without the requirement to model the temperature dependence of the intrinsic carrier density, thus eliminating a source of error. By application of this approach we reproduce the variation of the radiative recombination coefficient in crystalline silicon with temperature reported in the literature for temperatures !77 K. Above all, we extend the measured range for the radiative recombination coefficient to a temperature of 20 K. In this extended temperature range between 20 and 70 K the recombination coefficient increases with decreasing temperature by about three orders of magnitude.