The search for Bose–Einstein condensation of excitons in Cu2O: exciton-Auger recombination versus biexciton formation
Excitons in high-purity crystals of Cu _2 O undergo a density-dependent lifetime that opposes Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC). This rapid decay rate of excitons at a density n has generally been attributed to Auger recombination having the form ${\rm d}n/{\rm d}t=-A{{n}^{2}}$ , where A is an excito...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2014-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/16/12/123048 |
| _version_ | 1797751439158673408 |
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| author | James P Wolfe Joon I Jang |
| author_facet | James P Wolfe Joon I Jang |
| author_sort | James P Wolfe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Excitons in high-purity crystals of Cu _2 O undergo a density-dependent lifetime that opposes Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC). This rapid decay rate of excitons at a density n has generally been attributed to Auger recombination having the form ${\rm d}n/{\rm d}t=-A{{n}^{2}}$ , where A is an exciton-Auger constant. Various measurements of A , however, have reported values that are orders-of-magnitude larger than the existing theory. In response to this conundrum, recent work has suggested that excitons bind into excitonic molecules, or biexcitons, which are short-lived and expected to be optically inactive. Of particular interest is the case of excitons confined to a parabolic strain well—a method that has recently achieved exciton densities approaching BEC. In this paper we report time- and space-resolved luminescence data that supports the existence of short-lived biexcitons in a strain well, implying an exciton loss rate of the form ${\rm d}n/{\rm d}t=-2C{{n}^{2}}$ with a biexciton capture coefficient C ( T ) proportional to $1/T$ , as predicted by basic thermodynamics. This alternate theory will be considered in relation to recent experiments on the subject. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:48:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5ab3c3415db944e6a82e221665a455cd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:48:32Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-5ab3c3415db944e6a82e221665a455cd2023-08-08T11:26:08ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302014-01-01161212304810.1088/1367-2630/16/12/123048The search for Bose–Einstein condensation of excitons in Cu2O: exciton-Auger recombination versus biexciton formationJames P Wolfe0Joon I Jang1Physics Department and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 1110 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USADepartment of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton , P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, New York 13902, USAExcitons in high-purity crystals of Cu _2 O undergo a density-dependent lifetime that opposes Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC). This rapid decay rate of excitons at a density n has generally been attributed to Auger recombination having the form ${\rm d}n/{\rm d}t=-A{{n}^{2}}$ , where A is an exciton-Auger constant. Various measurements of A , however, have reported values that are orders-of-magnitude larger than the existing theory. In response to this conundrum, recent work has suggested that excitons bind into excitonic molecules, or biexcitons, which are short-lived and expected to be optically inactive. Of particular interest is the case of excitons confined to a parabolic strain well—a method that has recently achieved exciton densities approaching BEC. In this paper we report time- and space-resolved luminescence data that supports the existence of short-lived biexcitons in a strain well, implying an exciton loss rate of the form ${\rm d}n/{\rm d}t=-2C{{n}^{2}}$ with a biexciton capture coefficient C ( T ) proportional to $1/T$ , as predicted by basic thermodynamics. This alternate theory will be considered in relation to recent experiments on the subject.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/16/12/123048excitonbiexcitonBose–Einstein condensationtwo-body recombinationcuprous oxide |
| spellingShingle | James P Wolfe Joon I Jang The search for Bose–Einstein condensation of excitons in Cu2O: exciton-Auger recombination versus biexciton formation New Journal of Physics exciton biexciton Bose–Einstein condensation two-body recombination cuprous oxide |
| title | The search for Bose–Einstein condensation of excitons in Cu2O: exciton-Auger recombination versus biexciton formation |
| title_full | The search for Bose–Einstein condensation of excitons in Cu2O: exciton-Auger recombination versus biexciton formation |
| title_fullStr | The search for Bose–Einstein condensation of excitons in Cu2O: exciton-Auger recombination versus biexciton formation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The search for Bose–Einstein condensation of excitons in Cu2O: exciton-Auger recombination versus biexciton formation |
| title_short | The search for Bose–Einstein condensation of excitons in Cu2O: exciton-Auger recombination versus biexciton formation |
| title_sort | search for bose einstein condensation of excitons in cu2o exciton auger recombination versus biexciton formation |
| topic | exciton biexciton Bose–Einstein condensation two-body recombination cuprous oxide |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/16/12/123048 |
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