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Updated: Oct 17, 2025

Carrier Lifetime Measurements in Semiconductors through the Microwave Photoconductivity Decay Method
Published on: April 18, 2019
Free-carrier generation dynamics induced by ultrashort intense terahertz pulses in silicon
Abstract:
We report the results of experimental studies and numerical simulation of the dynamics of the electron-hole pairs formation in silicon under the action of a two-period terahertz pulse with a maximum electric field strength of up to 23 MV/cm. It is shown that an inhomogeneous distribution of the charge carrier concentration over the depth of the silicon sample is formed, which persists for several microseconds. This inhomogeneity is formed due to a sharp increase in the rate of filling the conduction band with free carriers in the subsurface input layer of the silicon wafer, which occurs at a field strength above 15 MV/cm.
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