Ds. Ong et al., Full band Monte Carlo modeling of impact ionization, avalanche multiplication, and noise in submicron GaAs p(+)-i-n(+) diodes, J APPL PHYS, 87(11), 2000, pp. 7885-7891
A full-band Monte Carlo model is used to investigate the probability distri
bution functions of impact ionization path length and impact ionization ene
rgy for electrons and holes in GaAs. The simulations show that the soft ion
ization threshold energy in GaAs allows impact ionization to occur at energ
ies much higher than the band gap. As a result, secondary carriers have a s
horter dead space than newly injected carriers. The ionization path length
distributions narrow at higher fields, producing a more deterministic impac
t ionization process in thin devices. The model is also used to simulate av
alanche multiplication and noise in submicron homojunction GaAs p(+)-i-n(+)
diodes. The predicted mean multiplication, < M > and excess noise factor,
F are in quantitative agreement with the experimental results, in which F d
ecreases as the length of multiplication region is reduced. (C) 2000 Americ
an Institute of Physics. [S0021- 8979(00)08211-6].