Capture of carriers to screened charged centres and low temperature shallow impurity electric field break down in semiconductors

TL;DR

This paper investigates how free carriers are captured by screened Coulomb potentials in semiconductors, revealing that the capture cross section diminishes with decreasing screening radius and proposing a new mechanism for shallow impurity electric field breakdown at low temperatures.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism for shallow impurity electric field breakdown based on carrier capture dynamics influenced by screening effects.

Findings

Capture cross section decreases with screening radius

Capture cross section approaches zero at a critical screening radius

Proposes a new breakdown mechanism for shallow impurities

Abstract

Free carrier capture by a screened Coulomb potential in semiconductors are considered. It is established that with decreasing screening radius the capture cross section decreases drastically, and it goes to zero when $% r_s=a_B^{*}$. On the basis of this result a new mechanism of shallow impurity electric field break down in semiconductors is suggested.