Alloy scattering potential in <i>p</i>-type Ga1−<i>x</i>Al<i>x</i>As

Abstract

The two-band transport model is expanded in order to analyze the Hall mobility of p-type III–V compound semiconductors. Using this model, the drift and the Hall mobilities can be calculated separately. The alloy scattering as an additional scattering mechanism in alloy semiconductor systems is assumed and the Hall mobility of p-type Ga1−xAlxAs is analyzed. By comparing the theoretically calculated Hall mobility with the reported Hall mobility data of high purity p-GaAs, the acoustic phonon deformation potential and the optical phonon deformation potential were found to be 7.0 and 11.5 eV, respectively. Theoretical calculations showed that the acoustic and nonpolar optical phonon scattering are more prominent than the polar optical phonon scattering at 300 K in the entire Al compositional range. The alloy scattering potential was determined comparing the theoretically calculated values with the Hall mobility of liquid phase epitaxial p-type Ga1−xAlxAs. Best agreement in the compositional variation at room temperature and the temperature variation was found with the alloy scattering potential of 0.7 eV.