On photoluminescence in HgGa2S4

In this paper, we investigate the kinetics of photoluminescence in excited crystals of HgGa2S4 which have recently been proposed for implementing tunable luminescent devices. From photoluminescence experiments, performed at various temperatures and excitation powers, it appears that two kinds of radiative recombination processes take place during crystal excitation. These originate two bands in emission spectra which were resolved by means of a fitting procedure. The dependencies of these bands on temperature and excitation power density are explained by means of a specific kinetic model. A broad band, peaking at about 1.8 eV, is ascribed to electron–hole tunnel recombinations occurring in associated donor–acceptor pairs, according to a Prener–Williams scheme. The second narrow band, peaking at about 2.3 eV, is ascribed to electron–hole recombinations occurring in centres presenting short (image) and long-life (image) excited states. At room temperature, owing to thermally activated relaxation from short- to long-life states, these centres saturate under relatively low excitation powers. The tunability of photoluminescence is a consequence of competition between monomolecular and bimolecular recombination processes.