Nonequilibrium phonon effects on hot-electron transport in semiconductor heterojunctions

W. Cai, M. C. Marchetti, M. Lax

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have studied the effect of a nonequilibrium population of optical phonons on two-dimensional hot-electron transport in a strong electric field. We find that the presence of hot phonons increases the mobility at weak field. At high field, on the contrary, it enhances electron heating, so that the nonlinear mobility is reduced. The optical-phonon distribution function is strongly anisotropic in the direction of the electric field. The characteristic time scale governing the relaxation towards the steady state becomes much longer in the presence of nonequilibrium phonons.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2636-2644
Number of pages9
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume37
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1988
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Condensed Matter Physics

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