Total dielectric function approach to the electron Boltzmann equation for scattering from a two-dimensional coupled mode system

TL;DR

This paper introduces a total dielectric function approach to accurately model inelastic electron scattering in two-dimensional systems, accounting for mode coupling and dynamical screening effects.

Contribution

It presents a novel numerical method for incorporating inelastic scattering with momentum-dependent hybrid phonon frequencies in the Boltzmann equation for 2D electrons.

Findings

Mode coupling and screening significantly affect electron mobility.

Two-dimensional electron scattering differs from three-dimensional cases.

Enhanced understanding of polar optical phonon interactions in 2D materials.

Abstract

The nonequilibrium total dielectric function lends itself to a simple and general method for calculating the inelastic collision term in the electron Boltzmann equation for scattering from a coupled mode system. Useful applications include scattering from plasmon-polar phonon hybrid modes in modulation doped semiconductor structures. This paper presents numerical methods for including inelastic scattering at momentum-dependent hybrid phonon frequencies in the low-field Boltzmann equation for two-dimensional electrons coupled to bulk phonons. Results for mobility in GaAs show that the influence of mode coupling and dynamical screening on electron scattering from polar optical phonons is stronger for two-dimensional electrons than was previously found for the three dimensional case.