Multiphonon Nonradiative Recombination due to Successive Electron and Hole Capture by a Deep-Level Defect in Semiconductors

A rate is calculated of nonradiative recombination in which a deep-level defect captures first an injected minority carrier and then a majority one by multiphonon emission. In many cases the second capture occurs in a very short time, of the order of a phonon period, during lattice relaxation toward a new equilibrium configuration triggered by the first capture. The mechanism gives a model of the so-called killer centers which cannot be detected by measurements of trapped carriers.