Hysteresis of conduction via impurities in uncompensated crystalline silicon in strong crossed electric and magnetic fields

It was observed that in uncompensated silicon in sufficiently strong crossed electric (E) and magnetic (H) fields the conductivity σ exhibits hysteresis as a function of E with H=const and as a function of H with Econst. For the same values of E and H the conductivity can differ by a factor of 10⁵. Weak pulses of a field E transfer the conductivity from one branch of the hysteresis loop to another. Very low-intensity background radiation radically changes the form of this loop. The results can be attributed to an insulator-metal transition stimulated in the D ⁻ band of silicon by a strong electric field. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 69, No. 1, 70–74 (10 January 1999)