The band structure and carrier recombination mechanism of α/β-phase tellurium homojunction investigated by infrared photoluminescence
Abstract
During the synthesis of tellurium (Te) crystals, the coexistence of multiple crystalline phases (α-Te, β-Te, and γ-Te) with diverse structures commonly occurs, leading to instability and complexity in the performance of Te-based optoelectronic devices. This study employs physical vapor deposition to synthesize Te crystals of various sizes and morphologies, followed by spatially and temperature-dependent evaluation using Raman mapping and infrared photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Spatially resolved results reveal that the size and morphology of Te crystals significantly influence the energy and peak profiles of Raman and PL spectra. Statistical analysis of spatially random sampling indicates the PL peak energies of Te crystals follow a lognormal distribution in terms of their occurrence frequencies, reflecting the complex interplay of multiple factors during crystal growth. This results in the coexistence of α-Te and β-Te phases, forming α/β-Te heterophase homojunction (HPHJ). Meanwhile, temperature-dependent PL results, obtained for the range of 3–290 K, reveal multi-peak competitive behavior in the PL spectra, accompanied by S-shaped shifts in peak energy. These features can be rationally explained by an interface transition-recombination mechanism based on the I-type α/β-Te HPHJ model. It also confirms infrared PL spectroscopy is an effective method for identifying the crystalline phase composition of Te crystals.
Article Details
Journal Info
Applied Physics Letters
American Institute of Physics
Authors (11)
Xiaoyun Ye
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Shenzhen)
Liangqing Zhu
Technical Center for Multifunctional Magneto-Optical Spectroscopy (Shanghai), Engineering Research Center of Nanophotonics and Advanced Instrument (Ministry of Education), Department of Physics, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University 1 , Shanghai 200241,
Jun Shao
Rui Hu
Liyan Shang
Technical Center for Multifunctional Magneto-Optical Spectroscopy (Shanghai), Engineering Research Center of Nanophotonics and Advanced Instrument (Ministry of Education), Department of Physics, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University 1 , Shanghai 200241,
Xiren Chen
National Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2 , Shanghai 200083,
Yawei Li
Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Coal-based Value-added Chemicals Green Catalysis Synthesis
Jinzhong Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Kai Jiang
Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China, and State Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry
Junhao Chu
State Key Laboratory of Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics
Zhigao Hu
Technical Center for Multifunctional Magneto-Optical Spectroscopy (Shanghai), Engineering Research Center of Nanophotonics and Advanced Instrument (Ministry of Education), Department of Physics, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University 1 , Shanghai 200241,