Screening of positrons in semiconductors and insulators

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© 1989 American Physical Society (APS). This is the accepted version of the following article: Puska, M. J. & Mäkinen, S. & Manninen, M. & Nieminen, Risto M. 1989. Screening of positrons in semiconductors and insulators. Physical Review B. Volume 39, Issue 11. 7666-7679. ISSN 1550-235X (electronic). DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.39.7666, which has been published in final form at http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.39.7666.
Final published version

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Journal ISSN

Volume Title

School of Science | A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Date

1989

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Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

7666-7679

Series

Physical Review B, Volume 39, Issue 11

Abstract

Theoretical models are presented for the enhancement of the electron density at a positron in a semiconductor or insulator host. The model better suited for typical semiconductors is based on the many-body theory for the screening of a positron in electron gas. The starting point of the model for insulators is the atomic polarizability. The common parameter in both models is the high-frequency dielectric constant. Moreover, the enhancement depends on the ambient electron density in the semiconductor model and on the unit-cell volume in the insulator model. With use of the models developed, positron lifetimes in perfect semiconductor and insulator crystals have been calculated. In the calculations, three-dimensional electron densities and electrostatic potentials are obtained by atomic superposition and the fully three-dimensional positron wave functions are solved by a relaxation method. The calculated positron lifetimes agree with the experimental ones within a few picoseconds. Moreover, we have used the model to predict lifetimes of positrons trapped by lattice defects such as vacancies and vacancy clusters.

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Keywords

semiconductors, positrons, electron density

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Citation

Puska, M. J. & Mäkinen, S. & Manninen, M. & Nieminen, Risto M. 1989. Screening of positrons in semiconductors and insulators. Physical Review B. Volume 39, Issue 11. 7666-7679. ISSN 1550-235X (electronic). DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.39.7666.