INVESTIGATION OF THE KINETICS OF THE AMBIPOLAR HOT-CARRIER SIZE EFFECT IN A SEMICONDUCTOR.

It is demonstrated that the kinetics of the ambipolar hot-carrier size effect in a semiconductor plate can be used to determine the surface recombination velocity of electron-hole (EH) pairs in weak and strong electric field s//0 and s(E), as well as the pair bulk lifetime tau //0. The results are given of an experimental determination of the dependence s(E) for intrinsic germanium. An estimate is obtained of the time needed for the appearance of a negative differential conductivity, which is associated with the investigated size effect in thin germanium samples. The formation time corresponding to the maximum surface recombination velocity is relatively short. The kinetics of the size effect in intrinsic germanium is found to be sensitive to the surface recombination velocity ″relief″ .