Abstract
The nucleation process of a current filament has been investigated in n -GaAs during the impact ionization avalanche of neutral shallow donors at 4.2 K. The image patterns of the current filament are measured under a pulsed electric field with the pulse width T p by detecting quenched patterns of photoluminescence from the laser-excited sample. It is found that the rudimentary filament is formed with the pulse width T p =900 ns and the pulse height V p =0.79 V. Fronts of the nucleated filament at the cathode (or the anode) propagate towards the anode (or the cathode). Drift velocity and drift mobility of the fronts are estimated as a function of the pulse width. We also investigate the nucleation process under the transverse magnetic field.
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