Steady-state and transient electron transport within wurtzite and zinc-blende indium nitride

Abstract

We study the steady-state and transient electron transport that occurs within wurtzite and zinc-blende indium nitride using a three-valley Monte Carlo simulation approach. For our steady-state results, we find that, for both cases, initially the electron drift velocity monotonically increases with the applied electric field strength, reaching a peak value followed by a region of negative differential mobility, and then a region of saturation. The peak fields are found to be around 30 kV/cm for the case of wurtzite indium nitride and about 50 kV/cm for the case of zinc-blende indium nitride, the corresponding peak and saturation electron drift velocities being around 5.6×107 and 1.2×107 cm/s for the case of wurtzite indium nitride and about 3.3×107 and 1.0×107 cm/s for the case of zinc-blende indium nitride. For the purposes of our transient electron transport analysis, we follow the approach of O'Leary et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 222103 (2005)], and examine how an ensemble of electrons responds to the sudden application of a constant electric field. We find that the electrons within wurtzite indium nitride exhibit higher electron drift velocities and longer relaxation times than those within zinc-blende indium nitride. The device implications of these results are then discussed.