Determination of the Exciton Binding Energy Using Photothermal and Photoluminescence Spectroscopy

Abstract

In this paper, experimental photoluminescence(PL) andpiezoelectricphotothermal (PPT) spectra of selected II–VI binary crystals are presented and analyzed. The quantitative analysis of the photothermal spectra was performed using a modified and extended Jackson–Amer model. The values of the bandgap energies of investigated semiconductors were computed from the PT amplitude and phase spectra. From the temperature dependence of the exciton emission so-called “excitonic energy gaps” have been determined. It follows from the theory that the exciton binding energy is the difference of these two values of energy gaps derived from PPT and PL spectroscopy.