Transient optical absorption of hole polarons in ADP (NH4H2PO4) and KDP (KH2PO4) crystals

Abstract

A study of transient optical absorption of the ADP (NH₄H₂PO₄) and KDP (KH₂PO₄) nonlinear crystals in the visible and UV spectral regions is reported. Measurements made by absorption optical spectroscopy with nanosecond-time resolution established that the transient optical absorption (TOA) of these crystals originates from optical transitions in the hole A and B radicals and the optical-density relaxation kinetics is rate-controlled by interdefect tunneling recombination, which involves these hole centers and the electronic H⁰ centers representing neutral hydrogen atoms. At 290 K, hole polarons and the H⁰ centers undergo thermally stimulated migration, which is not accompanied by carrier ejection into the conduction or valence band. The slow components of the TOA kinetics with characteristic times from a few tens of milliseconds to a few seconds can be assigned to diffusion-controlled annihilation of hydrogen vacancies associated with impurity or structural defects.