Light emission lifetimes in p-type δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells near the Mott transition

The time resolved photoluminescence of beryllium δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells have been studied over a range of doping concentrations, in order to investigate possible mechanisms for the carrier radiative recombination, both above and below the Mott metal-insulator transition. It was found that at doping concentrations near the Mott transition (NBe ∼ 3 × 1012 cm−2), the radiative recombination of excitons-bound-to-acceptor impurities as well as free electrons with acceptor impurities, dominated in the Be δ-doped GaAs/AlAs MQWs (LW = 15 nm) that were used in this study. Above the Mott transition, the major contribution was from radiative recombination of free electrons with a two-dimensional hole gas. The radiative lifetime would therefore exhibit different behavior with doping. In lightly doped GaAs/AlAs MQWs, this changed from 0.3–1 ns at 3.6 K to 8 ns at 300 K, whilst in quantum wells above the Mott transition, it changed from ∼0.36 ns at 3.6 K to ∼1 ns at 300 K, and was also weakly dependen...