Optical and Electrical Bistability Induced by Exciton Ionization Processes

Nonlinear optical effects in the luminescence and the microwave absorption which are induced by heating of electrons in a microwave electric field are revealed in silicon: (1) Hysteresis in the exciton condensation process at T = 2 K which results in the bistability of the recombination radiation, with a hysteresis lifetime of 3 × 10−2s. (2) Self-oscillations in the electron density during impact ionization of excitons, the frequency of the self-oscillations varies over the range 0.5 to 5 MHz while changing the light excitation or microwave power. (3) Thermal exciton breakdown which is accompanied by jumps and hysteresis of the sample temperature as the excitation is varied. [Russian Text Ignored].