Energy loss in degenerate semiconductors due to inelastic interaction with acoustic and piezoelectric phonons at low lattice temperatures

Abstract

The energy loss rate of an electron in a degenerate semiconductor because of inelastic interaction with deformation potential and piezoelectric acoustic phonons is calculated in the case when the lattice temperature is low, so that the approximations of the well-known traditional theory are not valid. Compared to the traditional results and those for non-degenerate semiconductors, the theory here reveals a more complex and altogether different dependence of the loss rate on the carrier energy and the lattice temperature. The numerical results obtained here for Si and GaAs show how significantly the degeneracy level, the true phonon distribution or the inelasticity of the interaction affects the loss characteristics at low temperatures.