Alloy and Phonon Scattering

Semiconductor science underpins much of our modern
world, providing electronic and optoelectronic
devices such as lasers and photodetectors for
computer technology, telecommunications and optical
storage. The development of novel optoelectronic
devices depends in major part on manipulating the
material properties of semiconductors through
alloying. Progress has been made in recent years
alloying small concentrations of nitrogen into III-V
semiconductors such as GaAs the so-called dilute
nitrides, offering the possibility of devices for
telecommunications and solar cells based on GaAs
technology due to the large bowing of the band gap.
A possible limitation for such devices is the
drastic reduction in electron mobility as nitrogen
is added. If this problem is to be overcome,
theoretical models of the band structure and
scattering processes need to be developed to guide
future development. This current work reviews and
develops theoretical models of alloy and phonon
scattering in semiconductors both in the general
case and for specific models pertinent to dilute
nitrides.

Autorentext

Martin P. Vaughan, PhD, MSc, BSc, MInstP: Studied quantum processes in semiconductors and laser physics at the University of Essex, UK; physics and applied mathematics at the Open University, UK. Research Officer in THz technology at the University of Essex.

Klappentext

Semiconductor science underpins much of our modern world, providing electronic and optoelectronic devices such as lasers and photodetectors for computer technology, telecommunications and optical storage. The development of novel optoelectronic devices depends in major part on manipulating the material properties of semiconductors through alloying. Progress has been made in recent years alloying small concentrations of nitrogen into III-V semiconductors such as GaAs - the so-called dilute nitrides, offering the possibility of devices for telecommunications and solar cells based on GaAs technology due to the large bowing of the band gap. A possible limitation for such devices is the drastic reduction in electron mobility as nitrogen is added. If this problem is to be overcome, theoretical models of the band structure and scattering processes need to be developed to guide future development. This current work reviews and develops theoretical models of alloy and phonon scattering in semiconductors both in the general case and for specific models pertinent to dilute nitrides.