Electron transport within a zinc-oxide-based two-dimensional electron gas: The impact of variations in the electron effective mass

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe examine the electron transport that occurs within a zinc-oxide-based two-dimensional electron gas using Monte Carlo simulations. The sensitivity of the results to variations in the lowest energy conduction band valley electron effective mass is examined. Increased values of the electron effective mass result in diminished electron drift velocities and reduced sensitivity to the free electron concentration. In agreement with our previous studies for a fixed value of the electron effective mass [11], we find that the reduced scattering due to the screening of the impurity and polar optical scattering leads to a slightly higher mobility of the 2DEG at low-fields but reduces the peak velocity, since gaining a higher energy due to the reduced polar optical phonon scattering enhances the effects of the non-parabolicity within this material.