Temperature dependent low-field electron multiplication in In0.53Ga0.47As

Abstract

Electron multiplication for a series of In0.53Ga0.47As p-i-n diodes and hole multiplication for a n-i-p diode were measured at electric fields of 100–260 kV/cm over a temperature range of 20–300 K. The electron multiplication characteristics consistently showed positive temperature dependence at low electric fields (below ∼200 kV/cm) but exhibited negative temperature dependence at high fields. These observations explain the apparent discrepancies of the temperature dependence of the electron ionization coefficient in In0.53Ga0.47As in literature. In contrast, hole multiplication showed little change with temperature.

Temperature dependence of electron impact ionization in In0.53Ga0.47As

“…Figure 3 shows the temperature dependence of ␣ simulated over a range of temperatures and fields. Good agreement with ␣ measured by Ng et al 10 was obtained. At electric fields below ϳ180 kV/cm ␣ exhibits a positive temperature coefficient, gradually becoming negative at higher fields, with a temperature insensitive region in between.…”

“…In contrast, Yee et al 9 found that the breakdown voltage in In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As diodes increases with temperature corresponding to the conventionally observed decrease in ionization coefficient with temperature, at high fields. More recently Ng et al 10 measured ␣ across a wide range of electric fields at temperatures ranging from 20 to 300 K and found that ␣ has positive and negative temperature coefficients at low and high electric fields, respectively.…”

Positive and negative temperature dependences of electron-impact ionization in In0.53Ga0.47As

“…11 The ionization rates of In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As generated from Eq. The results are in good agreement with the measurement of Ng et al 5 An increase in temperature is observed for fields below 180 kV/ cm, becoming negative at higher fields. 1, together with the ionization rates of GaAs.…”

“…However, subsequent work by Neviani et al 3 on In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As HBTs confirmed a positive temperature coefficient of ␣ at 125 kV/ cm and explained this anomalous in terms of reduction in band gap with temperature. To resolve this issue, Ng et al 5 performed photomultiplication measurements on a series of In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As p-i-n diodes at electric fields in the range of 100-260 kV/ cm between 20 and 300 K. They found that ␣ has a positive temperature coefficient below 200 kV/ cm, changing sign at higher fields. To resolve this issue, Ng et al 5 performed photomultiplication measurements on a series of In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As p-i-n diodes at electric fields in the range of 100-260 kV/ cm between 20 and 300 K. They found that ␣ has a positive temperature coefficient below 200 kV/ cm, changing sign at higher fields.…”

Review of electron transport properties in bulk InGaAs and InAs at room temperature

“…6 and 7 as a function of electric field. The MC results are compared with different experimental and theoretical data present in the literature [13,14,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. For an electric field lower than about 0.15 kV/cm, the velocity increases linearly and the carriers remain in the same valley (Fig.…”