Optical Analog of Zone Melting at Room Temperature

Abstract

The conditions at which the birth of photoelectrons in a semiconductor or transparent dielectric leads to the appearance of a force causing drift of impurities are found. Drift occurs in the same direction as the displacement of the focal region of the radiation, which excites minority charge carriers. The use of this condition made it possible to show that drift can be more noticeable than diffusion. This process, which can be considered an optical analog of zone melting, is especially important for thin films.