Observation of an Electron-Hole Liquid in Cubic SiC

Abstract

The first observation of an electron-hole liquid (EHL) in the polar semiconductor cubic SiC is reported. The temperature and excitation dependence of the luminescence, time-delayed spectra and decay times (${\tau }_{\mathrm{EHL}}=57\mathrm{}\pm 3$ nsec) have been measured. An EHL binding energy of 19.5±4 meV, a high critical temperature of ∼41 K, and a low-temperature density of 7.8×${10}^{18}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{-3\mathrm{}}$ are deduced and demonstrate the strong influence of electron-phonon coupling and reduced screening for EHL binding.