Stress Study of Donor Exciton Satellites in Silicon: Existence of Multiple Donor-Bound Excitons Strongly Requestioned

Abstract

We present data on the low-energy satellites of the donor-bound---exciton luminescence in silicon doped with Li, P, and As with stress applied along the $〈100〉$, $〈111〉$, and $〈110〉$ directions. The satellite lines show identical behavior under stress as the principal bound exciton. The highly anisotropic features and a specific "fine structure" of the spectra place severe constraints on any model for interpretation of the lines. Comparison with recent experiments on acceptor-bound excitons (Al and Ga) in silicon casts doubt on the existence of multiple excitons bound to donors.