Minority Carrier Lifetime Analysis in the Bulk of Thin-Film Absorbers Using Subbandgap (Two-Photon) Excitation

We describe a new time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) analysis method for the determination of minority carrier lifetime
${\tau}_{B}$
. This analysis is based on subbandgap excitation (two-photon excitation, or 2PE) and allows selective lifetime determination at the surface or in the bulk of semiconductor absorbers. We show that for single-crystal CdTe,
${\tau}_{B}$
could be determined even if surface recombination velocity is >10
$^{5}$
 cm s
$^{-1}$
. Two-photon excitation TRPL measurements indicate that radiative lifetime in undoped CdTe is >>66 ns. We also compare one-photon excitation (1PE) and 2PE TRPL data for polycrystalline CdS/CdTe thin films.