Investigation of the optical, temperature dependent free-carrier absorption of a bipolar electron-hole plasma in silicon

Abstract

The IR absorption coefficient α(n) for λ=1.32 μm of an electron-hole plasma in silicon at high injection conditions has been measured in dependence of temperature. It was found that the free-carrier absorption (FCA) coefficient α(n) for λ=1.32 μm exhibits a slightly nonlinear dependence on the injected carrier concentration n. The final data were extracted from results obtained from FCA measurements combined with results from open-circuit voltage-decay (OCVD) experiments. For calibration of α specially designed p–i–n diode structures were used at current densities 1≤ j[A/cm 2]≤100.