Negative luminescence and thermal radiation in semiconductor planar resonator structures

We present the results of theoretical and experimental investigation of interference effects of negative luminescence (NL) in planar resonator structures with an optically thin active semiconductor layer, as well as association of those effects with thermal radiation (TR) from such structures. The conditions are studied at which one can determine the NL characteristics of a structure with equilibrium electrons and holes by measuring its TR. We investigated the spectra and angular dependence of NL in the planar structures where active element is a Pb0.8Sn0.2Te film on a transparent BaF2 substrate coated with aluminium. It is shown that, for such structures, NL efficiency in the interference peaks may be close to unity, and the antenna effect appears in the radiation pattern at some fixed wavelength. Both radiation intensity and the near-field energy in the vicinity of NL source energy are studied. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.