Uniaxial stress investigations of the three-level conduction band structure of GaAs

Abstract

Measurements are reported of low-field resistivity and Gunn effect threshold field as a function of (100) and (111) uniaxial stress for a number of epitaxial and bulk GaAs samples. The results provide the first direct evidence that the L1c minima are situated lower in energy than the X1c minima and are therefore involved in the operation of GaAs transferred-electron devices. Intervalley separations are obtained at 300K, but these are dependent on density-of-states values. Further information on band structure parameters such as intervalley coupling constants should now be obtainable by fitting the high-field data to Monte-Carlo calculations currently in progress. Deformation potentials for the satellite minima have been determined.