Exciton formation and stability in semiconductor heterostructures

The formation and stability of excitons in semiconductors is studied on the basis of a microscopic model that includes Coulomb interacting fermionic electrons and holes as well as phonons. Whereas quasiequilibrium calculations predict substantial exciton fractions coexisting with an electron-hole plasma at low temperatures and densities, dynamic calculations reveal that the exciton formation times under these conditions exceed the characteristic lifetimes. At elevated densities, good agreement between dynamical and quasiequilibrium calculations is obtained.