Inhomogeneously Heated Electron Thermal Bottleneck in Semiconductors

Abstract

General phenomenological criteria for the OrIgm of the inhomogeneously heated electron thermal bottleneck in semiconductors are obtained. Different physical situations in solid-state physics are discussed in which the electron bottleneck is described in terms of multi-valued characteristics. A microscopic model of the electron bottleneck in layer semiconductors is suggested and investigated in detail. A novel phenomenon-the cold electon bottleneck in layer semiconductors-is predicted. It is shown that, unlike the hot electron bottleneck, the cold electron one manifests itself in the formation of two (one) S-N shaped or locked looptype sections on the current-voltage characteristics (CVC). Various methods of experimental detection of such bottlenecked eve are discussed.