New Mechanism of Magnetoresistance in Bulk Semiconductors: Boundary Condition Effects

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new boundary-condition-related mechanism affecting magnetoresistance in bulk semiconductors, showing that boundary effects can cause non-zero magnetoresistance even with energy-independent relaxation times.

Contribution

It presents a novel mechanism of magnetoresistance arising from boundary conditions, extending the understanding beyond traditional bulk theories.

Findings

Boundary conditions significantly influence magnetoresistance.

Magnetoresistance persists even with energy-independent relaxation times.

New boundary-related mechanism modifies classical galvanomagnetic effects.

Abstract

We consider the electronic transport in bounded semiconductors in the presence of an external magnetic field. Taking into account appropriate boundary conditions for the current density at the contacts, a change in the magnetoresistance of bulk semiconductors is found as compared with the usual theory of galvanomagnetic effects in boundless media. New mechanism in magnetoresistance connected with the boundary conditions arises. In particular, even when the relaxation time is independent of the electron energy, magnetoresistance is not vanish.