Anisotropy of warm electrons in germanium and silicon

Measurements of the warm carrier coefficient β, which describes the deviations from Ohm's law at medium electric field strengths, are reported forn-type silicon andn-type germanium for different impurity concentrations and for different crystallographic orientations. Due to the anisotropy of β we can divide into deviations from Ohm's law in one valley of the many valley-semiconductors and into intervalley scattering between the different valleys. Both effects decrease with increasing electron concentration. Additional we observe a maximum in intervalley scattering with the inset of dominating impurity scattering.     

Resonant transverse differential conductivity of heavy holes inp-type diamond and silicon in fields E∥H∥ [001]

We show that, in comparison top-Ge,p-Si is the most promising material for extending the generation of electromagnetic waves into the high-frequency region. Diamond is unsuitable for this purpose because of its small transverse negative differential conductivity.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 8, pp. 45–48, August, 1993.     

Anisotropy and temperature dependences of thermal conductivity for silicon nanowires

The anisotropy and temperature dependences of thermal conductivity for silicon nanowires with diameters higher than 50 nm is investigated using the Callaway three-mode model. Contributions to the thermal conductivity from the boundary and bulk mechanisms of phonon scattering are calculated at room temperature. The relationship between the thermal conductivity and nanowire diameter is analyzed in symmetrical directions and at room temperature.     

Anisotropy of the submillimeter conductivity of warm carriers in n-type gallium arsenide

The submillimeter conductivity of warm electrons in GaAs at 300 K shows a pronounced dependence on the orientation of the high-frequency field relative to an applied d.c. field. Calculations based on the momentum and energy balance equations can explain the measured data and allow a determination of the energy relaxation time.     

Effect of normal processes on thermal conductivity of germanium,silicon and diamond

The effect of normal scattering processes is considered to redistribute the phonon momentum in (a) the same phonon branch — KK-S model and (b) between different phonon branches — KK-H model. Simplified thermal conductivity relations are used to estimate the thermal conductivity of germanium, silicon and diamond with natural isotopes and highly enriched isotopes. It is observed that the consideration of the normal scattering processes involving different phonon branches gives better results for the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of germanium, silicon and diamond with natural and highly enriched isotopes. Also, the estimation of the lattice thermal conductivity of germanium and silicon for these models with the consideration of quadratic form of frequency dependences of phonon wave vector leads to the conclusion that the splitting of longitudinal and transverse phonon modes, as suggested by Holland, is not an essential requirement to explain the entire temperature dependence of lattice thermal conductivity whereas KK-H model gives a better estimation of the thermal conductivity without the splitting of the acoustic phonon modes due to the dispersive nature of the phonon dispersion curves.      

Theory of the photon-drag effect inp-type germanium with a parabolic and anisotropic band-structure approximation

This paper shows that many features of the photon-drag voltage generated by illumination ofp-germanium with 10.6 μm radiation can be understood on the basis of a parabolic but anisotropic band-structure model. The group velocities of the heavy and light holes participating in the optical transitions are obtained by an analysis of the conservation laws. Since the nonequilibrium hole densities in both bands depend directly on the momentum relaxation times in the determinant equations of continuity, these times are the parameters with the strongest influence on the numerical results. The photon-drag voltage consists of components longitudinal and transverse with respect to the axis of illumination. For the longitudinal components, good agreement between our theoretical results and experimental data from the literature is achieved if the crystal is illuminated along a [100] or [111] direction. Though a transition probability independent of light polarisation has been assumed, the transverse effect (illumination along [111]) can be computed for special measuring conditions. The calculated effects of anisotropy are higher than known from experiments possibly due to the approximations used for the valence bands and the transition probability. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Anisotropy of graphite optical conductivity

The graphite conductivity is evaluated for frequencies between 0.1 eV, the energy of the order of the electronhole overlap, and 1.5 eV, the electron nearest hopping energy. The in-plane conductivity per single atomic sheet is close to the universal graphene conductivity e ²/4ħ and, however, contains a singularity conditioned by peculiarities of the electron dispersion. The conductivity is less in the c direction by the factor of the order of 0.01 governed by electron hopping in this direction.     

Laser-stimulated conductivity of amorphous germanium films

It is shown that metastable states are created in evaporated -Ge films by laser irradiation. The lifetime of the metastable state is a strong function of the incident laser power density.Supported by IRSIA (Brussels)     

Optical transitions of holes in uniaxially compressed germanium

Spontaneous emission and photoconductivity of germanium with gallium impurity are studied for determining the energy spectrum of hole states in this material in which radiation can be induced as a result of transitions of holes between these states. Holes were excited by electric field pulses with a strength up to 12 kV/cm at T = 4.2 K under uniaxial compression of samples up to 12 kbar. It has been found that hole emission spectra for transitions between resonant and local states of the impurity have a structure identical to the photoconductivity and absorption spectra. Transitions from resonance states, which are associated with the heavy hole subband, have not been detected. It has been found that in an electric field lower than 100 V/cm, a compressed crystal emits as a result of transitions of heavy holes. In a strong electric field (1–3 kV/cm), emission is observed in the energy range up to 140 meV, and transitions with emission of TA and LO phonons appear in such a field. The emission spectra under pressures of 0 and 12 kbar differ insignificantly. Hence, it follows that the contributions from heavy and light holes in a strong electric field are indistinguishable.     

Current topics of silicon germanium devices

Silicon germanium (SiGe) is lattice mismatched to silicon by up to 4% depending on its Ge content. Basic investigations on strained layer growth, interface properties and deviation from equilibrium are done with SiGe/Si heterostructures. Early results are discussed in context with our recent understanding. The main focus of this overview is devoted to the micro- and optoelectronic devices which could be fabricated after solving or understanding the basic interface problems. This includes devices already in production, and those in emerging fields for inclusion in the next generation of integrated circuits, and a selection of device concepts with high merits to be proven in experiment.     

Interaction of germanium with silicon dioxide

The interaction of germanium (Ge) adatoms with SiO₂ (silica) plays an important role in selective, heteroepitaxial growth of Ge(100) through windows created in silica on Si(100) and in the selective growth of Ge nanoparticles on hafnia, located at the bottom of pores etched through silica. Both processes rely on the inability of Ge to accumulate on silica. In hot wire chemical vapor deposition of Ge nanoparticles from GeH₄, etching of the silica has been invoked as one path to prevent accumulation of Ge on silica; whereas dense silica is not etched when Ge atoms are incident on the surface in molecular beam processes. Surface studies were conducted to determine the nature of oxidized Ge on SiO₂, to reconcile the etching claim with GeH₄, and to look for the additional etching product that must accompany GeO, namely SiO. Etching of silica is not found with GeH₄ or GeH_x fragments. A more complete examination of the Ge isotopes reveals instead the m/e 90 signal, previously attributed to GeO, originates from interactions between iron oxide impurities in the molybdenum holder, and hydrogen and GeH_x fragments. Coating the Mo with gold eliminates m/e 90 from Ge TPD spectra. The high temperature m/e 74 and m/e 2 peaks observed from 800 to 900 K are attributed to GeH_x decomposition to Ge and H followed by their desorption, while the appearance of GeO_x is attributed to possible reactions between GeH_x species with hydroxyl groups and/or oxidation of Ge clusters by background oxidants.     

Electrical conductivity of germanium with dislocation grids

Samples of n-type germanium with a donor concentration N _d=2.4×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ are plastically deformed to a degree of strain equal to 18–40% to detect static conduction by electrons trapped on dislocations in a system of dislocation grids. In samples with 20%<δ<31%, which retain an electronic type of conductivity, the conductivity for T<8 K, which is weakly temperature-dependent, is associated with conduction by electrons trapped on dislocations. The nonmonotonic dependence of the conductivity at 4.2 K on the degree of strain as the latter increases from 18% to 40% attests to the existence of an energy gap between the donor and acceptor dislocation states in strongly plastically deformed germanium. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 115–125 (January 1999)     

Generation of cyclotron radiation by light holes in germanium

The properties of the light hole cyclotron resonance laser are studied in detail. The emission spectrum and the tuning characteristics are analysed. Two regions of continuously tunable stimulated emission between 30 to 50 cm^–1 and 70 to 90 cm^–1 are found. Besides the time behaviour of the emission the spectral gain is measured for the first time with the help of a secondp-Ge laser, A gain value of 0.2 cm^–1 is found, which is significantly larger than the value found for the light to heavy hole laser. An application of the tunable laser is demonstrated by measuring the central cell splitting the photoconductivity signal of shallow donors inn-GaAs.     

Modification of the lattice thermal conductivity in silicon quantum wires due to spatial confinement of acoustic phonons

Lattice thermal conductivity in silicon quantum wires is theoretically investigated. The bulk of heat in silicon structures is carried by acoustic phonons within a small region in the first Brillouin zone. Our formalism rigorously takes into account modification of these acoustic phonon modes and phonon group velocities in free- and clamped-surface wires due to spatial confinement. From our numerical results, we predict a significant decrease (more than an order of magnitude) of the lattice thermal conductivity in cylindrical quantum wires with diameter D =  200 Å. The decrease is about two times stronger in quantum wires than in quantum wells of corresponding dimensions. Our theoretical results are in qualitative agreement with experimentally observed drop of the lattice thermal conductivity in silicon low-dimensional structures.     

Lattice thermal conductivity due to impurities

Phonon conductivity of NaF has been calculated using non-linear theory of heat transfer in solid given by Kazakov and Nagaev and shows good agreement with the measurements of Jackson and Walker in the temperature range 2–10°K.