Screening of an Electric Field and the Quasi-Static Capacitance of an Induced Charge in Semiconductors with Hopping Conductivity

Expressions for the screening length of an external electrostatic field in a crystalline semiconductor are derived in the Debye–Hückel and Mott–Schottky approximations taking into account electron (hole) hopping via hydrogen-like donors (acceptors). The feasibility of determining the Debye–Hückel screening length from measurements of a quasi-static capacitance with low and high degrees of basic dopant compensation has been demonstrated even in a strong field, that is, in the Mott–Schottky approximation. To measure the capacitance, the electric signal frequency must be much less than the average frequency of electron hopping via donors.