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Analytical Theory of Electron Mobility and Drift Velocity in GaN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

B. L. Gelmont
Affiliation:
EE Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, gb7k@virginia.edu
M. S. Shur
Affiliation:
ECSE Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy , NY 12180
M. Stroscio
Affiliation:
U. S. Army Research Office, P. O. Box 12211, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709–2211
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Abstract

We derive balance transport equations for the electron mobility and drift velocity, which are applicable at any degeneracy of the electron gas. These equations account for the polar optical phonon scattering and ionized impurity scattering and include the effects of screening. These equations are valid only for very high concentrations (above 1019 cm-3 for GaN). However, the comparison with the results of Monte Carlo simulations shows that they fairly accurately reproduce the field-velocity curves in GaN in moderate electric fields (up to 100 kV/cm). The comparison with the electron mobility calculated using the two-step model [1] shows a much larger difference but allows us to illustrate the trends in mobility dependencies caused by electron-electron collisions. We also derive the balance transport equations accounting for the polar optical phonon scattering in a two-dimensional electron gas. The calculations based on these equations, show that the unscreened polar optical scattering mobility is smaller in the two-dimensional gas than in the bulk intrinsic semiconductor and that the mobility decreases with the decrease of the quantum well thickness.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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