Abstract
Effective-mass sum-rule methods for estimating overlap integrals between conduction and heavy-hole band states for Auger recombination are reviewed critically and their fundamental weakness identified. Detailed calculations of such overlap integrals are presented for GaAs and InP using the full-zone 15-band k.p and non-local pseudopotential methods. The agreement between these two calculation methods is very good considering the empirical element in each. It is found that the effective-mass sum-rule method overestimates the modulus squared of the overlap integrals by at least an order of magnitude. The four-band approximation to the k.p method underestimates the modulus squared of the overlap integral by a similar factor. Errors in the pseudopotential method due to the orthogonality hole have been estimated and found to be small and the reason for this identified. The significance of the results is discussed in relation to recent experimental work on Auger recombination in GaInAsP.