Scattering rates for holes near the valence-band edge in semiconductors

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss and compare the rates for dominant scattering mechanisms for holes in semiconductors, including ionized impurity scattering, polar and nonpolar optical-phonon scattering, and inelastic acoustic deformation potential scattering. The scattering rates for these mechanisms have been reviewed for the purpose of finding reliable expressions to be used in Monte Carlo simulation of hole transport in p-type III-V semiconductor devices. In the scarce literature on hole scattering rates, we have found several discrepancies. Here, we present corrected rates for ionized impurity scattering and for scattering by polar optical phonons. In addition, we have derived new expressions for the inelastic acoustic deformation potential scattering rates where we also have included a series expansion for the phonon occupation number, beyond the equipartition approximation.