Excitons in cuprous oxide under uniaxial stress

Abstract

The energy levels for excitons in ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}$O under uniaxial stress have been calculated under the assumption of strong mixing between the yellow and green exciton series. The reversal of the order for the strain-split levels of the $2S$ yellow exciton with respect to the $1S$ yellow exciton is explained by two different and competing splitting mechanisms. The results agree well with resonance-enhancement measurements of Waters et al. The level assignment as proposed by Agekyan and Stepanov and Fr\"ohlich et al. is confirmed.