Abstract

Various phases of high-density electron-hole system by photoexcitation have attracted much interest in recent decades. The existence of a liquid phase of degenerate electron-hole plasma has been well established in indirect- gap semiconductors such as Ge, Si, and GaP. In the direct-gap semiconductors, the lifetime of electron-hole pairs are very short and the situation becomes highly nonequilibrium. Thus there still remain many fundamental problems to be explored.¹

© 1997 Optical Society of America