Hot-electron transport in GaAs quantum wells: effect of non-drifting hot phonons and interface roughness

Abstract

The influence of a non-equilibrium population of LO phonons (hot phonons) on hot-electron energy and momentum relaxation in modulation-doped GaAs quantum wells are studied both experimentally and theoretically. The experimental results on high-field parallel transport indicate strongly that: (i) non-equilibrium phonons in GaAs quantum wells, contrary to the assumptions made in the conventional theories, are non-drifting; (ii) therefore, the production of hot phonons not only reduces the energy relaxation rate but also enhances the momentum relaxation rate; (iii) the enhancement of the momentum relaxation at high fields inhibits negative differential conductivity via real space transfer or intervalley transfer; (iv) the enhancement of the momentum relaxation rate also reduces the drift velocity at high fields, which is detrimental to the speed of the hot electron devices; (v) hot phonon effects increases with increasing 3D carrier concentration. The results are compared with a comprehensive theoretical model involving non-drifting hot phonons and scattering from remote impurities and interface roughness. The agreement between the theory and the experiments is excellent.