Intensity-dependent minority-carrier lifetime in III-V semiconductors due to saturation of recombination centers

The minority-carrier lifetime has been measured by time-resolved photoluminescence in a variety of III-V epitaxial material including GaAs and AlxGa1−xAs. In cases where Shockley–Read–Hall recombination is dominant, the measured lifetimes are dependent upon the intensity of the excitation source. These lifetime effects can be described by a Shockley–Read–Hall model that includes the injection dependence of the recombination. As the lifetimes increase with the injection level, we describe the effects as the saturation of recombination centers.