Enhanced non-radiative recombination in hydrogenated amorphous silicon at low carrier densities and low temperatures

Abstract This letter reports in detail on the temperature dependence of the time-resolved infrared-stimulated luminescence and long-time luminescence decay at low carrier densities. We find a peculiarity of the recombination process at temperatures T < 30 K. It is shown that the observed quenching of the luminescence flux cannot be caused by Auger processes. The effect is interpreted as an enhanced non-radiative recombination via defect states owing to potential fluctuations caused by carrier clusters.