Electron‐hole drops in uniaxially stressed silicon

The photoluminescence of electron‐hole drops (EHD) in silicon is studied under uniaxial stress P ≦ 5 × 10 3 kp/cm 2 . The infinite stress limit is virtually reached, and characteristic EHD parameters are derived from lineshape fits including lifetime broadening effects. For P ∥ [100] and [110] “hot” EHD luminescence is observed due to electrons in the up‐shifted conduction bands. Thermalization with the “cold” electrons in the down‐shifted conduction bands only occurs for large band splittings above ≈︁ 20 meV and is suggested to be initiated by TA‐phonon assisted intervalley scattering. An extra line ≈︁ 1.3 meV below the cold free exciton emission for P ∥ [100] is attributed to the radiative decay of biexcitons.