Determination of the electron-hole pair creation energy in Al0.8Ga0.2As

The average energy consumed in the creation of an electron-hole pair (commonly called the electron-hole pair creation energy) in the compound semiconductor Al0.8Ga0.2As has been experimentally measured for the first time at X-ray energies using 55Fe and 109Cd radioisotope sources and a GaAs X-ray photodiode as a reference detector. The value measured (5.1 eV ± 0.08 eV at 294 K) is compared to values previously estimated in the literature. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.