How excitons form (IMAGE)

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

How excitons form

Caption

This illustration depicts how excitons are formed when light hits a semiconductor material, exciting electrons (blue) to higher energy levels. Electrons briefly bond with the vacancies, or "holes," (orange swirls) they left behind to form excitons (blue and orange), which whirl around each other like dancers until they recombine in as little as a billionth of a second.

Credit

Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

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