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Negative luminescence is a physical phenomenon by which an electronic device emits less thermal radiation when an electric current is passed through it than it does in thermal equilibrium (current off). When viewed by a thermal camera, an operating negative luminescent device looks colder than its environment.
Negative luminescence is most readily observed in semiconductors. Incoming infrared radiation is absorbed in the material by the creation of an electron–hole pair. An electric field is used to remove the electrons and holes from the region before they have a chance to recombine and re-emit thermal radiation. This effect occurs most efficiently in regions of low charge carrier density.
Negative luminescence has also been observed in semiconductors in orthogonal electric and magnetic fields. In this case, the junction of a diode is not necessary and the effect can be observed in bulk material. A term that has been applied to this type of negative luminescence is galvanomagnetic luminescence.
Negative luminescence might appear to be a violation of Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation. This is not true, as the law only applies in thermal equilibrium.
Another term that has been used to describe negative luminescent devices is "Emissivity switch", as an electric current changes the effective emissivity.
This effect was first seen by Russian physicists in the 1960s in A.F.Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Leningrad, Russia. Subsequently, it was studied in semiconductors such as indium antimonide (InSb), germanium (Ge) and indium arsenide (InAs) by workers in West Germany, Ukraine (Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Kyiv), Japan (Chiba University) and the United States. It was first observed in the mid-infrared (3-5 μm wavelength) in the more convenient diode structures in InSb heterostructure diodes by workers at the Defence Research Agency, Great Malvern, UK (now QinetiQ). These British workers later demonstrated LWIR band (8-12 μm) negative luminescence using mercury cadmium telluride diodes.
Later the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC, started work on negative luminescence in mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe). The phenomenon has since been observed by several university groups around the world.
A semiconductor device is an electronic component that relies on the electronic properties of a semiconductor material for its function. Its conductivity lies between conductors and insulators. Semiconductor devices have replaced vacuum tubes in most applications. They conduct electric current in the solid state, rather than as free electrons across a vacuum or as free electrons and ions through an ionized gas.
Luminescence is a spontaneous emission of radiation from an electronically or vibrationally excited species not in thermal equilibrium with its environment. A luminescent object emits cold light in contrast to incandescence, where an object only emits light after heating. Generally, the emission of light is due to the movement of electrons between different energy levels within an atom after excitation by external factors. However, the exact mechanism of light emission in vibrationally excited species is unknown.
Lead(II) sulfide is an inorganic compound with the formula PbS. Galena is the principal ore and the most important compound of lead. It is a semiconducting material with niche uses.
Indium antimonide (InSb) is a crystalline compound made from the elements indium (In) and antimony (Sb). It is a narrow-gap semiconductor material from the III-V group used in infrared detectors, including thermal imaging cameras, FLIR systems, infrared homing missile guidance systems, and in infrared astronomy. Indium antimonide detectors are sensitive to infrared wavelengths between 1 and 5 μm.
Hg1−xCdxTe or mercury cadmium telluride is a chemical compound of cadmium telluride (CdTe) and mercury telluride (HgTe) with a tunable bandgap spanning the shortwave infrared to the very long wave infrared regions. The amount of cadmium (Cd) in the alloy can be chosen so as to tune the optical absorption of the material to the desired infrared wavelength. CdTe is a semiconductor with a bandgap of approximately 1.5 eV at room temperature. HgTe is a semimetal, which means that its bandgap energy is zero. Mixing these two substances allows one to obtain any bandgap between 0 and 1.5 eV.
An infrared detector is a detector that reacts to infrared (IR) radiation. The two main types of detectors are thermal and photonic (photodetectors).
Indium arsenide, InAs, or indium monoarsenide, is a narrow-bandgap semiconductor composed of indium and arsenic. It has the appearance of grey cubic crystals with a melting point of 942 °C.
Charles Thomas Elliott, , is a scientist in the fields of narrow gap semiconductor and infrared detector research.
Zinc telluride is a binary chemical compound with the formula ZnTe. This solid is a semiconductor material with a direct band gap of 2.26 eV. It is usually a p-type semiconductor. Its crystal structure is cubic, like that for sphalerite and diamond.
Lead selenide (PbSe), or lead(II) selenide, a selenide of lead, is a semiconductor material. It forms cubic crystals of the NaCl structure; it has a direct bandgap of 0.27 eV at room temperature. A grey solid, it is used for manufacture of infrared detectors for thermal imaging. The mineral clausthalite is a naturally occurring lead selenide.
Dmitri Z. Garbuzov was one of the pioneers and inventors of room temperature continuous-wave-operating diode lasers and high-power diode lasers.
Gallium indium arsenide antimonide phosphide is a semiconductor material.
Indium arsenide antimonide phosphide is a semiconductor material.
Interband cascade lasers (ICLs) are a type of laser diode that can produce coherent radiation over a large part of the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are fabricated from epitaxially-grown semiconductor heterostructures composed of layers of indium arsenide (InAs), gallium antimonide (GaSb), aluminum antimonide (AlSb), and related alloys. These lasers are similar to quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) in several ways. Like QCLs, ICLs employ the concept of bandstructure engineering to achieve an optimized laser design and reuse injected electrons to emit multiple photons. However, in ICLs, photons are generated with interband transitions, rather than the intersubband transitions used in QCLs. Consequently, the rate at which the carriers injected into the upper laser subband thermally relax to the lower subband is determined by interband Auger, radiative, and Shockley-Read carrier recombination. These processes typically occur on a much slower time scale than the longitudinal optical phonon interactions that mediates the intersubband relaxation of injected electrons in mid-IR QCLs. The use of interband transitions allows laser action in ICLs to be achieved at lower electrical input powers than is possible with QCLs.
Lead tin telluride, also referred to as PbSnTe or Pb1−xSnxTe, is a ternary alloy of lead, tin and tellurium, generally made by alloying either tin into lead telluride or lead into tin telluride. It is a IV-VI narrow band gap semiconductor material.
Rubin Braunstein (1922–2018) was an American physicist and educator. In 1955 he published the first measurements of light emission by semiconductor diodes made from crystals of gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium antimonide (GaSb), and indium phosphide (InP). GaAs, GaSb, and InP are examples of III-V semiconductors. The III-V semiconductors absorb and emit light much more strongly than silicon, which is the best-known semiconductor. Braunstein's devices are the forerunners of contemporary LED lighting and semiconductor lasers, which typically employ III-V semiconductors. The 2000 and 2014 Nobel Prizes in Physics were awarded for further advances in closely related fields.
Aluminium indium antimonide, also known as indium aluminium antimonide or AlInSb (AlxIn1-xSb), is a ternary III-V semiconductor compound. It can be considered as an alloy between aluminium antimonide and indium antimonide. The alloy can contain any ratio between aluminium and indium. AlInSb refers generally to any composition of the alloy.
Gallium arsenide antimonide, also known as gallium antimonide arsenide or GaAsSb, is a ternary III-V semiconductor compound; x indicates the fractions of arsenic and antimony in the alloy. GaAsSb refers generally to any composition of the alloy. It is an alloy of gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium antimonide (GaSb).
Indium arsenide antimonide, also known as indium antimonide arsenide or InAsSb (InAs1-xSbx), is a ternary III-V semiconductor compound. It can be considered as an alloy between indium arsenide (InAs) and indium antimonide (InSb). The alloy can contain any ratio between arsenic and antimony. InAsSb refers generally to any composition of the alloy.
Gallium indium antimonide, also known as indium gallium antimonide, GaInSb, or InGaSb (GaxIn1-xSb), is a ternary III-V semiconductor compound. It can be considered as an alloy between gallium antimonide and indium antimonide. The alloy can contain any ratio between gallium and indium. GaInSb refers generally to any composition of the alloy.