PERSISTENT SPECTRAL-HOLE BURNING IN THE WIDE-GAP SEMICONDUCTOR SIC DOPED WITH VANADIUM

Persistent spectral-hole burning was performed in the gamma line of V4 + in the side-gap semiconductor 6H-SiC. Spectral holes burned at 11 K were stable to temperatures of at least 320 K for several days. The ho le-burning mechanism consists of two-step photoionization of V4+ (self -gated spectral-hole burning). The spectral holes could be erased opti cally, either by pumping of electrons back from stable traps or, presu mably, by a charge-transfer transition from the valence band to the V5 + ions. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.