Determination of the diffusion length of charge carriers in nonstoichiometric sillenite-type crystals by the technique of nonsteady-state photocurrents

Abstract

Bi 12 GeO 20 and Bi12SiO20 single crystals have been grown from melts with different GeO2 and SiO2 contents, respectively, to investigate the influence of an intrinsic defect, the antisite defect (Bi on Ge or Si site), on the diffusion length and the mobility-lifetime product of excited charge carriers. Measurements of nonsteady-state photocurrents show that both quantities increase with decreasing concentration of the antisite defect.