Study of electron energy relaxation times in GaAs and InP

摘要

The phenomenological energy relaxation times for electrons in GaAs and InP have been determined as functions of electric field. The results were obtained by interpreting measurements of the differential microwave (34 GHz) conductivity of bulk‐grown samples on the basis of a single‐relaxation‐time model. The low‐field values for GaAs and InP were found to be 2.5 and 1.7 psec, respectively. The relaxation times showed monotone‐increasing field dependence up to the bulk‐effect threshold values, with the most rapid change occurring near those values. The measured results are in accord with theoretical estimates based on energy loss rates for polar optical and intervalley modes. The faster energy relaxation process observed in InP tends to favor slightly a two‐level transport model over the three‐level model recently proposed.