624 research outputs found
Levy Flight of Photoexcited Minority Carriers in Moderately Doped Semiconductors: Theory and Observation
Spatial spread of minority carriers produced by optical excitation in
semiconductors is usually well described by a diffusion equation. The classical
diffusion process can be viewed as a result of a random walk of particles in
which every step has the same probability distribution with a finite second
moment. This allows applying the central limit theorem to the calculation of
the particle distribution after many steps. However, in moderately doped
direct-gap semiconductors the photon recycling process can radically modify the
spatial spread. For this process, the steps in the random walk are defined by
the reabsorption length of photons produced in radiative recombination. The
step distribution has an asymptotic power-law decline. Moments of this
distribution diverge and the displacement is governed by rare but large steps.
Random walk of this kind is called the Levy flight. It corresponds to an
anomalously large spread in space and a modified ("super-diffusive") temporal
evolution. Here we discuss the first direct observation of the hole profile in
n-doped InP samples over distances of the order of a centimeter and more than
two orders of magnitude in hole concentration. Luminescence spectra and
intensity were studied as a function of distance from the photo-excitation in a
rather unusual geometry (homogeneous excitation of the wafer edge and
observation of the luminescence spectra from the broadside). The intensity is
proportional to the minority-carrier concentration and exhibits a slow
power-law drop-off with no changes in the spectral shape. This power law gives
a direct evidence of Levy-flight transport. It has enabled us to evaluate the
index of the distribution, the characteristic distance of the minority-carrier
spread and the photon recycling factor. The results are in good agreement with
the theoretical analysis.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
Bubble size distribution and energy dissipation in foam mixers
The bubble size distribution of a foam produced in a rotor-stator mixer has been determined as a function of several mixing parameters such as the rotor speed, residence time, gas/liquid ratio and the viscosity of the liquid used. A Newton-Reynolds expression for a foam mixer has been determined using energy consumption measurements. Two types of shear fields have been distinguished in the foam mixer, laminar and turbulent, the type of shear field depending on the properties of the foam mixer. After a certain mixing time the bubble size distribution characterised by the mean bubble size was found to reach a stationary value. The stationary bubble size distribution has been correlated with the mixing conditions by a critical Weber number. Both in the laminar and in the turbulent shear field bubble size distributions have been determined as a function of several mixing parameters
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