Premium
Elastic Electron Scattering in Symmetry‐Induced Zero‐Gap Semiconductors
Author(s) -
Szymańska W.,
Bogusławski P.,
Zawadzki W.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.2220650223
Subject(s) - condensed matter physics , scattering , phonon scattering , physics , electron , mott scattering , band gap , ionized impurity scattering , phonon , quantum mechanics , small angle neutron scattering , neutron scattering
Abstract Relaxation times for elastic electron scattering in the symmetry‐induced zero‐gap semi‐conductors of zincblende structure are calculated, taking into account the nonparabolic character of the conduction band both in the density of states and the electron wave functions. The calculation is based on the band structure proposed by Groves and Paul and uses exact k · p solutions for the three‐level model of Γ 8 , Γ 6 , and Γ 7 levels. Electron scattering by charged impurities and heavy holes, optical phonons (screened polar interaction) and acoustic phonons is considered. Spin‐flip transitions play an important role for all scattering modes. An anomalous q ‐dependence of the static dielectric function due to low energy excitations between the Γ 8 heavy hole and conduction bands is shown to have small effect on the ionized impurity scattering at low temperatures. It is demonstrated that transverse modes give a large contribution to acoustic scattering. In all cases the Γ 8 symmetry of the band‐edge and the nonparabolicity of the band at higher energies have essential effect on the scattering processes.