Recombination processes in rare-earth metals in semiconductors are a special case due to the localized nature of $f$ electrons. Our work explores in detail the radiative and nonradiative mechanisms of energy transfer for erbium in silicon by investigating the temperature dependence of the intensity and the decay time of the photoluminescence of Er-related centers in Si. We show that nonradiative energy back transfer from the excited Er $4f$ shell causes luminescence quenching below 200 K. We study electroluminescence decay by applying different bias conditions during the decay. In a two-beam experiment the photoluminescence decay is monitored for different background-excitation laser powers. Changes in the decay time are strong evidence of the impurity Auger effect as an efficient luminescence-quenching mechanism for Er in Si. A fast initial luminescence decay component at high pumping powers is related to quenching by excess carriers. The power dependence, the decay-time components, and the two-beam experiment are simulated by a set of rate equations which involve the formation of excitons, a decrease of the pumping efficiency by exciton Auger recombination, and a decrease of radiative efficiency by the impurity Auger effect with free electrons. As a nonradiative deexcitation path competing with spontaneous emission, the impurity Auger effect decreases the excited-state lifetime of Er in Si, and dominates the thermal quenching of luminescence in the temperature range from 4 to 100 K. We find that the decrease of emission intensity above 100 K is caused by an unidentified second back-transfer process.

• Received 1 February 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.54.17603