Energy and momentum conservation during energetic-carrier generation and recombination in silicon

Abstract

The threshold energies of electrons and holes to generate electron-hole pairs, and energetic holes and electrons, by the interband impact and Auger mechanisms are computed analytically from energy and momentum conservation and found to be nearly equal to the minimum values based on energy conservation alone as was recognized by Kane as due to the intervalley impact generation pathway of electron-hole pairs. Experimental thresholds and energy dependency of the carrier generation efficiencies appear to support the analytic theory. The experimental data are obtained using the nearly monoenergetic primary electrons from Fowler-Nordheim tunneling through a thin gate oxide to generate secondary electron-hole pairs in a crystalline silicon substrate, or secondary hot holes in the polysilicon gate or thin crystalline silicon surface layer of p- and n-type channel silicon-gate/silicon-oxide/silicon field-effect transistors.