Analysis of thermally stimulated luminescence and conductivity without quasi-equilibrium approximation

Abstract

Thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) and conductivity (TSC) are considered using the classical insulator model that assumes one kind of active trap, one kind of inactive deep trap and one kind of recombination centre. Kinetic equations describing the model are solved numerically without and with the use of quasi-equilibrium (QE) approximation. The QE state is characterized by the parameter qI = (dnc/dt)/Ie, where dnc/dt is the rate of change of free electron density, and Ie is the TSL intensity. The QE state parameter qI, the relative recombination probability γ = Ie/(Ie + It) (It is the trapping intensity) and a new parameter called a quasi-stationary (QS) state parameter q* = qIγ = (dnc/dt)/(Ie + It) are used for the analysis of the TSL and TSC. The QE and QS states are determined by conditions |qI| ≪ 1 and, respectively, |q*| ≪ 1. The TSL and TSC curves and the temperature dependences of qI, q*, γ the recombination lifetime and the occupancies of active traps and recombination centres are numerically calculated for five sets of kinetic parameters and different heating rates. These calculation results show that (1) the upper limit of the heating rate for the presence of the QS state appears at a higher heating rate than that for the QE state when the retrapping process is present, and (2) the TSL (TSC) curves in the QS state have properties similar to those for the TSL (TSC) curves in the QE state. Approximate formulae for calculation of the parameters qI and q* in the initial range of the TSL and TSC curves are derived and used in the heating-rate methods, proposed in this work, for determination of those parameters from the calculated TSL curves.