Radiative recombination and other processes related to excess charge carriers, decisive for efficient performance of electronic devices

Abstract

We present selected semiconductor (inorganic and organic) structures for which non-radiative recombination of excess charge carriers is very high, luminescence suppressed and its lifetime substantially shortened. Processes competitive with radiative energy emission are discussed. The importance of Shockley–Read–Hall recombination in materials with high impurity or defect concentration, applied in ultrafast devices, is shown. Also, charge transfer process in solar cells is discussed in the context of luminescence quenching of individual components of an active layer. A part of the shown research was a subject of our common work with Prof. Arūnas Krotkus during the period from 1994 till 2006.