Lifetime inp-Type Silicon

Abstract

By using the photoconductive decay method, lifetime is measured as a function of excess electron density in $p$-type silicon over the temperature range 200-400°K. The linear dependence of ${\tau }_n$ on $\Delta n$ expected from the Shockley-Read theory of recombination is not obeyed; instead a much stronger dependence is found with minority carrier densities less than ${10}^{12}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{-3\mathrm{}}$ than at larger densities. The data are discussed in terms of two separate recombinative levels of the Shockley-Read type of of more complex behavior for a single kind of center.