Electron recombination between Landau-levels in n-InSb

Experimental and theoretical investigations of electron recombination between Landau levels and associated impurity levels have been performed for n-InSb. The electronic lifetime in the first Landau level is found to be determined by electron-electron scattering what is experimentally confirmed by an inversely linear dependence on the electron concentration n₁ in the 1st Landau level. Values of 10⁻¹⁰ sec are obtained for n₁ 10¹³ cm⁻³. For n₁ ≤ 10¹⁰ cm⁻¹ acoustic phonon scattering determines the lifetime in the first Land level. For the recombination of electrons between the lowest Landau level and the impurity ground state times between 200 nsec and 50 nsec dependent on the magnetic field but independent of electron concentration are found indicating a phonon capture process. These times are also responsible for the observation that relaxation times from the (110) impurity level to the (000) ground state are the bottle neck in a three step process.