Auger Recombination of Photogenerated Charges in One-Dimensional Mott Insulators

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the dynamics of photoexcited states in one-dimensional Mott insulators. We adopt the Pariser–Parr–Pople model, and numerically calculate the time development of the nonequilibrium state excited by a light pulse. In the weaker light excitation case where the maximum photoexcitation density is below about 18%, the charge carriers in the photoexcited states are holons and doublons, and the geminate recombination of bound doublon–holon pairs, namely, the Auger recombination process dominates the decay of the photogenerated holons and doublons with the realistic Coulomb parameters. In the stronger light excitation case where the density is above the value, the charge carriers of the photoexcited states cannot be described by holons and doublons. As a result, the Auger recombination process of doublon–holon pairs is not the main decay route of the photogenerated charges. Furthermore, the spin and the charge degrees of freedom are coupled, and spin relaxation occurs in the photoexcited states. As the density of the photogenerated charge carriers becomes larger, the decay time decreases. This tendency is consistent with experiments.