Instantaneous effects of photons on electrons in semiconductors

TL;DR

This paper investigates the direct effects of photons on electrons in semiconductors, revealing photon-induced electron jumps, photon rest mass, and implications for laser and annealing processes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel perspective on photon-electron interactions, including photon rest mass and momentum transfer, expanding understanding beyond classical photoelectric theory.

Findings

Photons have measurable rest mass in vacuum and silicon.

Electrons can jump energy levels with specific photon energies and speeds.

Photon interactions can cause atoms to be ejected from semiconductors.

Abstract

The photoelectric effect established by Einstein is well known, which indicates that electrons on lower energy levels can jump up to higher levels by absorbing photons, or jump down from higher levels to lower levels and give out photons1-3. However, how do photons act on electrons and further on atoms have kept unknown up to now. Here we show the results that photons collide on electrons with energy-transmission in semiconductors and pass their momenta to electrons, which make the electrons jump up from lower energy levels to higher levels. We found that (i) photons have rest mass of 7.287exp(-38) kg and 2.886exp(-35) kg, in vacuum and silicon respectively; (ii) excited by photons with energy of 1.12eV, electrons in silicon may jump up from the top of valance band to the bottom of conduction band with initial speed of 2.543exp(3) m/s and taking time of 4.977exp(-17) s; (iii) acted by photons with energy of 4.6eV, the atoms who lose electrons may be catapulted out of the semiconductors by the extruded neighbor atoms, and taking time of 2.224exp(-15) s. These results make reasonable explanation to rapid thermal annealing, laser ablation and laser cutting.