Nonlinear voltage-temperature characteristics of submicron semiconductor layers

Voltage-temperature characteristics (VTC) of current carriers in semiconductor layers that are substantially narrower than the bulk cooling length are constructed in the temperature approximation. The nature of the VTC nonlinearity is shown to crucially depend on the ratio of the bulk to the surface energy relaxation lengths of electrons. Because these lengths depend on the electron temperature, with changing external electric fields, the contributions of these surface and bulk scattering mechanisms to energy relaxation processes may vary, leading to visible changes of VTC.In conclusion, the author would like to express his gratitude to Yu. G. Gurevich for a fruitful discussion of the results of this work.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 10, pp. 85–90, October, 1991.