Poole-Frenkel Effect in Terahertz Electromagnetic Fields

The ionisation of deep impurity centres in germanium has been observed with radiation in the terahertz range where the photon energy is much less than the binding energy of the impurities. It is shown that for not too high radiation intensities the ionisation is caused by the Poole-Frenkel effect. As in the well-known case of d.c. fields, the electric field of the high-frequency radiation lowers the Coulomb potential barrier and enhances the thermal emission of carriers.