Spatially nonuniform energy distribution of electrons in a submicron semiconductor film

TL;DR

This paper derives and analyzes the symmetric electron distribution in a submicron semiconductor film, revealing its non-Fermi nature due to energy-dependent relaxation processes, and proposes a new mechanism explaining this behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism based on energy-dependent relaxation times to explain the non-Maxwellian electron distribution in thin semiconductor films.

Findings

The symmetric electron distribution is generally non-Fermi in nature.

A new mechanism explains the non-Maxwellian distribution based on energy dependence of relaxation times.

The analysis applies to semiconductor films with temperature gradients between heating and cooling sources.

Abstract

The symmetric part of the distribution of the electrons in a semiconductor submicron film, placed between a heater and refrigeration unit, is derived and analyzed. It is shown that, in general, it is of non-Fermi (non-Maxwellian) nature. A new mechanism is proposed to account for the non-Maxwellian form of the symmetric part of the distribution function. This mechanism is based on the different energy dependences of the momentum relaxation time in the bulk of the semiconductor and its skin layer.