Abstract
When the semiconductor is exposed to an external electromagnetic field, a phonon field, or an electric field, free carriers can be generated, resulting in semiconductivity or photoconductivity. Carriers can also be generated by high-energy particles, such as fast electrons or ions. Optical carrier generation proceeds as band-to-band direct or indirect generation or from defect levels with photons of sufficient energy. Thermal generation of free carriers is substantially enhanced by defect centers. Shallow centers may absorb a phonon of sufficient energy or a few phonons involving intermediate steps into excited states; generation from deep centers requires multiphonon-induced giant oscillations.
Generation of carriers by an electric field can at low fields be caused by the Frenkel-Poole effect: a field-enhanced thermal generation from Coulomb-attractive defect centers. At high fields, impact ionization from deep centers or band-to-band impact ionization is observed. At still higher fields in the 106 V/cm range, tunneling from deep defect centers or from the valence band occurs. Besides thickness and height of the barrier, the tunneling probability depends on the shape of the barrier potential.
Karl W. Böer: deceased.
Notes
- 1.
We consider n-type carriers (electrons, indicated by the index n) unless stated otherwise.
- 2.
Except for high-mobility semiconductors for excitation from shallow centers at low temperatures, where impact ionization favorably competes – see Sect. 2.2.
- 3.
Other assignments refer to interface effects such as the Schottky effect or thermionic emission.
- 4.
This semiclassical approximation of the one-dimensional, stationary Schrödinger equation is named after G. Wentzel, H.A. Kramers, and L. Brillouin.
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Böer, K.W., Pohl, U.W. (2022). Carrier Generation. In: Semiconductor Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06540-3_29-4
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