In this article, the first calculations of hole initiated interband impact ionization in bulk zincblende and wurtzite phase GaN are presented. The calculations are made using an ensemble Monte Carlo simulation including the full details of all of the relevant valence bands, derived from an empirical pseudopotential approach, for each crystal type. The model also includes numerically generated hole initiated impact ionization transition rates, calculated based on the pseudopotential band structure. The calculations predict that both the average hole energies and ionization coefficients are substantially higher in the zincblende phase than in the wurtzite phase. This difference is attributed to the higher valence band effective masses and equivalently higher effective density of states found in the wurtzite polytype. Furthermore, the hole ionization coefficient is found to be comparable to the previously calculated electron ionization coefficient in zincblende GaN at an applied electric field strength of 3 MV/cm. In the wurtzite phase, the electron and hole impact ionization coefficients are predicted to be similar at high electric fields, but at lower fields, the hole ionization rate appears to be greater.

The ensemble Monte Carlo technique including the details of the first four conduction bands within the full Brillouin zone is used to calculate the basic electronic transport properties for both zincblende and wurtzite crystal phases of bulk gallium nitride. The band structure throughout the Brillouin zone is determined using the empirical pseudopotential method. Calculations of the electron steady-state drift velocity, average energy, valley occupancy and band occupancy in the range of electric fields up to 500 kV/cm are presented. It is found that the threshold electric field for intervalley transfer is greater and that the second conduction band is more readily occupied in wurtzite than in zincblende GaN over the range of electric fields examined here.

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In this paper, we present calculations of the hole transport properties of bulk zinc-blende and wurtzite phase GaN at field strengths at which impact ionization does not occur significantly. The calculations are made using an ensemble Monte Carlo simulator, including the full details of the band structure and a numerically determined phonon scattering rate based on an empirical pseudopotential method. Band intersection points—including band crossings and band mixings—are treated by carefully evaluating the overlap integral between the initial and possible final drift states. In this way, the hole trajectories in phase space can be accurately traced. It is found that the average hole energies are significantly lower than the corresponding electron energies for the field strengths examined. This result is most probably due to the drastic difference in curvature between the uppermost valence bands and the lowest conduction band. The relatively flat valence bands impede hole-heating, leading to low average hole energy.

Calculations of the high-field electronic transport properties of bulk zinc-blende and wurtzite phase gallium nitride are presented focusing particularly on the electron initiated impact ionization rate. The calculations are performed using ensemble Monte Carlo simulations, which include the full details of the band structure derived from an empirical pseudopotential method. The model also includes the numerically generated electron impact ionization transition rate, calculated based on the pseudopotential band structures for both crystallographic phases. The electron initiated impact ionization coefficients are calculated as a function of the applied electric field. The electron distribution is found to be cooler and the ionization coefficients are calculated to be lower in the wurtzite phase as compared to zinc-blende gallium nitride at compatable electric-field strengths. The higher electron energies and the resulting larger impact ionization coefficients in zinc-blende gallium nitride are believed to result from the combined effects of a lower density of states and phonon scattering rate for energies near and below 3 eV above the conduction-band minimum, and a somewhat higher ionization transition rate compared to the wurtzite phase. The nature of the impact ionization threshold in both phases of gallium nitride is predicted to be soft. Although there is considerable uncertainty in the knowledge of the scattering rates and the band structure at high energies which lead to uncertainty in the Monte Carlo calculations, the results presented provide a first estimate of what the electron initiated impact ionization rate in GaN can be expected to be.