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Characteristics of impact ionization rates in direct and indirect gap semiconductors

Harrison, D; Abram, RA; Brand, S

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Authors

D Harrison

RA Abram

S Brand



Abstract

Impact ionization rates for electrons and holes in three semiconductors with particular band structure characteristics are examined to determine underlying factors influencing their qualitative behavior. The applicability of the constant matrix element approximation is investigated, and found to be good for the indirect gap material studied, but overestimates threshold softness in the direct gap materials. The effect that final states in the Γ valley have in influencing characteristics of the rate in the direct gap materials is investigated, and it is found that they play a significantly greater role than the low density of Γ valley states would suggest. The role of threshold anisotropy in affecting threshold softness is examined, and it is concluded that it plays only a small part, and that softness is controlled mainly by the slow increase in available phase space as the threshold energy is exceeded.

Citation

Harrison, D., Abram, R., & Brand, S. (1999). Characteristics of impact ionization rates in direct and indirect gap semiconductors. Journal of Applied Physics, 85(12), 8186-8192. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.370658

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 1999
Deposit Date Dec 7, 2010
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Applied Physics
Print ISSN 0021-8979
Electronic ISSN 1089-7550
Publisher American Institute of Physics
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 85
Issue 12
Pages 8186-8192
DOI https://doi.org/10.1063/1.370658
Publisher URL http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1999JAP....85.8186H&db_key=PHY

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Copyright Statement
Copyright (1999) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Harrison, D. and Abram, R.A. and Brand, S. (1999) 'Characteristics of impact ionization rates in direct and indirect gap semiconductors.', Journal of applied physics., 85 (12). pp. 8186-8192 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.370658





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