Photoreflectance spectroscopy applied to semiconductors and semiconductor heterostructures.

The photoreflectance spectroscopy is presented as a powerful tool for the characterisation of semiconductor bulk and heterostructures. the advantages and possibilities offered by this electromodulation technique to investigate optical properties of a number of semiconductors and semiconductor structures, on which the modern electronic and optoelectronic devices are based, are reviewed. We discuss the application of the photoreflectance spectroscopy to study various properties of semiconductors, including the composition of multinary semiconducting compounds, carrier concentration, characteristic lifetimes of carriers, energies of trap states, distribution of the built-in electric field in home- and heterostructures, the influence of perturbations such as temperature, strain and effects of growth processing and annealing.