title: Relaxation of highly excited carriers in wide-gap semiconductors.
abstract: The electron energy relaxation in semiconductors and insulators after high-level external excitation is analysed by a semi-classical approach based on a kinetic equation of the Boltzmann type. We show that the non-equilibrium distributions of electrons and holes have a customary Fermi-like shape with some effective temperature but also possess a high-energy non-Fermian 'tail'. The latter may extend deep into the conduction and valence bands while the Fermi-like component is localized within a small energy range just above the edge of the band gap. The effective temperature, effective chemical potential, and the shape of the high-energy component are governed by the process of electron-phonon interactions as well as by the rates of carrier generation and inter-band radiative recombination.
authors.affiliation: Tomsk State Pedagogical University, Kievskaya st. 60, Tomsk 634041, Russia. National Research Tomsk State University, Lenin st. 36, Tomsk 634050, Russia. Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), P Manuel de Lardizabal 4, 20018 San Sebastian, Spain.
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Tyuterev
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Zhukov
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Echenique
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Chulkov