ISSN:
1089-7550
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
In zinc-blende II–VI alloys the thermal-expansion coefficient for low temperatures is negative and becomes positive at higher temperatures. We investigated the luminescence properties of molecular-beam-epitaxy-grown (CdMnMg)Te layers in the temperature range from 2 up to 200 K and show that the anomalous temperature dependence of the lattice constant is reflected in the luminescence properties of the excitonic recombination and the internal transition of manganese (ITM). The temperature behavior of the ITM energy is nonmonotonic and the existence of a minimum in the photon energy (at the temperature TMn) can be correlated to the change of sign of the thermal-expansion coefficient. The decay constants of the ITM begins to decrease drastically at TMn, too. Considering a lattice constant dependent energy transfer rate to the infrared emitting state (1.2 eV) of the manganese ion the variation of the lifetimes can also be explained by the temperature dependence of the lattice constant. Furthermore, we have measured the ITM in bulk layers and observed a different dependence of the ITM properties on the temperature, demonstrating the influence of the growing conditions on the microscopic surrounding of the manganese ions. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.362496
