Measurement of the Auger lifetime in GaInAsSb/GaSb heterostructures using the photoacoustic technique

We have studied GaxIn1-xAsySb1-y/GaSb heterostructures for x=0.84 and y=0.1 4 using the photoacoustic technique with the heat transmission configuratio n. A theoretical model, which includes all the possible nonradiative recomb ination mechanisms that contribute to heat generation, was developed to cal culate the photoacoustic signal for this type of heterostructure. The Auger recombination lifetime tau (Auger) was determined by fitting our experimen tal results to the calculated frequency dependence of the theoretical photo acoustic signal. The obtained value for tau (Auger) is compatible with thos e reported in the literature for semiconductors with band-gap energies belo w and above 0.5 eV, the energy region where there is a lack of experimental tau (Auger) values. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.