THE HOT-ELECTRON DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION UNDER IMPURITY BREAKDOWN CONDITIONS

The Boltzmann transport equation is solved by sparse-matrix method und er conditions that are typical for experiments of neutral impurity bre akdown at low lattice temperatures. A strong cooling effect due to imp act-ionizing collisions is found on the hot carrier distribution funct ion in moderately doped semiconductors. Implications of the cooling: e ffect on tile impact ionization coefficient are discussed. Tile result s of simulation are presented for parameter values that are typical fo r n-type GaAs doped with shallow donors and compensating acceptors, an d compared with experimental data.