Two-dimensional electron-hole liquid in single Si quantum wells with large electronic and dielectric confinement

Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Jun 11;92(23):236802. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.236802. Epub 2004 Jun 8.

Abstract

We report a luminescence study of the electronic properties of the 2D electron-hole liquid in crystalline Si quantum wells with SiO2 dielectric barriers. The Fermi-Dirac condensation of e-h pairs into a metallic liquid is strongly enhanced by spatial localization. We present experimental evidence for the formation of liquid nanodroplets, with size increasing with e-h pair density. The quantum confined regime is observed for well width below 15 nm. The data are analyzed in a confinement model that takes account of the band-gap renormalization by 2D many-body effects and the increase of the Coulomb interactions due to the dielectric mismatch between the Si well and the SiO2 barriers.