AUGER RECOMBINATION IN LONG-WAVELENGTH STRAINED-LAYER QUANTUM-WELL STRUCTURES

A model calculation of Auger recombination in strained-layer InGaAs-In GaA1As and InGaAs-InGaAsP quantum-well structures is presented as an e xtension of an empirical Auger theory based on the effective mass appr oximation, The valence band effective masses around k parallel to = 0 are calculated by using a six-band Luttinger-Kohn hamiltonian and the quasi-Fermi levels are determined with a self-consistent Poisson-Schro odinger solver under the effective mass approximation, Three basic Aug er processes are considered with the excited carrier being in a bound state of the quantum well, as well as an unbound state. The empirical model includes Fermi statistics as well as a revaluation of the Coulom b interaction overlap integral in the Anger recombination rate, Bound- unbound Auger transitions are proved to be an important nonradiative r ecombination mechanism in strained-layer quantum-well systems, Our cal culations of Anger coefficient are in reasonable agreement with the ex perimental data.