Field-dependent transport through the depletion layer of a semiconducting electrode

Abstract

We extend the results of a previous paper dealing with the transport of photo-generated excess charge carriers in a semiconducting electrode by including an explicit dependence on the mean electric field in the depletion layer. A general equation for the flux reaching the electrode surface is derived, and limiting expressions giving the electric field dependence of the quantum yield in both the low field and high field cases are obtained. The relation between these limiting expressions and results based on other models of the charge transport are discussed. A specific advantage of the present approach is that it describes the transport in terms of microscopic scattering and recombination probabilities whose dependence upon the field is specified.