On the photoemission from III-V, ternary and quaternary materials: Simplified theory and relative comparison

We study theoretically the electron energy spectrum and the photoemission from III-V, ternary and quaternary materials in the presence of light waves, whose unperturbed energy band structures are defined by the three-band model of Kane. The band gap of semiconductors increases as a consequence of incident light waves and we have suggested two new experimental methods of determining the band gap of semiconductors in the presence of photoexcitations. The solution of the Boltzmann transport equation on the basis of this newly formulated electron dispersion law will introduce new physical ideas and experimental findings in the presence of external photoexcitation. It has been found taking n-InAs, n-InSb, n-Hg1-x,CdxTe and n-In1-xGaxAsyP1-y lattice matched to InP, as examples that the photoemission increases with the increase in electron concentration and decreases in increasing intensity, wavelength and alloy composition, respectively, in various manners. The numerical values of the photoemission in the presence of light waves is less than that of the same for unperturbed three- and two-band models of Kane together with parabolic energy bands for all types of external variables. The strong dependence of the photoemission on the light intensity reflects the direct signature of light waves on the dispersion relation of the conduction electrons, which is in contrast when compared with the corresponding bulk specimens for the unperturbed band models. The rate of change is totally band structure dependent and is significantly influenced by the presence of the different energy band constants. The well-known result of the photoemission from non-degenerate wide gap materials has been obtained as a special case of the present analysis under certain limiting conditions and this compatibility is the indirect test of our generalized formalism. Besides, we have suggested six important applications of our results in this context. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.