Thermally stimulated exoelectron emission from rare gas solids in weak external electric fields

Charge carriers and neutral reactive intermediates were generated by ionizing radiation in model insulators—Ar solids doped with O2, N2 and CO. Combining methods of activation spectroscopy—thermally and photon-stimulated exoelectron emission (TSEE and PSEE) with thermally stimulated luminescence we studied electronic and atomic processes of relaxation in these metastable solids. This experimental approach enables us (i) to identify the charge of mobile charge carriers, (ii) to separate reactions of neutral and charged species and (iii) to find the interconnection between thermally driven chemical reactions and charge carrier dynamics in insulators.