HIGH ELECTRIC FIELD TRANSPORT IN DEGENERATE n-TYPE PbTe AND PbSe.
Abstract
Nanosecond pulse techniques are used to determine velocity-field characteristics of bulk samples of n-type PbTe and n-type PbSe at 77K and 4.2K for carrier concentrations ranging from 1 x 10 to the 17the power/cc to 5 x 10 to the 17the power/cc. At fields of a few hundred volts/cm, a sublinear variation of the velocity with electric field is observed. At higher fields, of about 2500 V/cm and 1000 V/cm for PbSe and PbTe respectively, the velocity field curve shows an inflection point. This 'current runaway' is consistent with the occurrence of avalanche multiplication. The results are interpreted in the framework of Stratton's theory for polar semiconductors. The extensions of the theory to the case of degenerate material with mixed scattering and nonparabolic bands is discussed. A comparison is made with InSb. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 08, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0709980
Entities
People
- Hugues St-onge
- James N. Walpole
- Robert H. Rediker
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology