Observation of local electron states linked to the quasi-Fermi level

¹ M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University - Moscow 119991, Russia
² Department of Electrical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University - Beer Sheva, 84105, Israel
³ Institute of Applied Physics - Kishinev MD-2028, Moldova
⁴ Faculty of Physics, University of Regensburg - Regensburg D-93040, Germany, EU

^(a) khokhlov@mig.phys.msu.ru

Received: 12 July 2012
Accepted: 11 September 2012

Abstract

We report on the observation of semiconductor local electron states linked to the quasi-Fermi level and, consequently, not characterized by the defined position in the energy spectrum which is familiar for shallow and deep impurities. This type of local electron states have been found in the doped narrow-gap semiconductor Pb_1−xSn_xTe(In). The binding energy of these states is less than 10 meV providing photoresponse at the wavelengths exceeding 100 μm.