Analysis of the dependence of critical electric field on semiconductor bandgap

Understanding of semiconductor breakdown under high electric fields is an important aspect of materials' properties, particularly for the design of power devices. For decades, a power-law has been used to describe the dependence of material-specific critical electrical field (epsilon(crit)) at which the material breaks down and bandgap (E-g). The relationship is often used to gauge tradeoffs of emerging materials whose properties haven't yet been determined. Unfortunately, the reported dependencies of epsilon(crit) on E-g cover a surprisingly wide range in the literature. Moreover, epsilon(cr)(it) is a function of material doping. Further, discrepancies arise in epsilon(cr)(it) values owing to differences between punch-through and non-punch-through device structures. We report a new normalization procedure that enables comparison of critical electric field values across materials, doping, and different device types. An extensive examination of numerous references reveals that the dependence epsilon(crit) alpha E-g(1.)83 best fits the most reliable and newest data for both direct and indirect semiconductors.

Automated summary

This study investigates semiconductor breakdown under high electric fields and proposes a new normalization procedure for comparing critical electric field values across different materials, doping, and device types. The research finds that the relationship between εcrit and E-g best fits an exponential dependence of 1.83 for both direct and indirect semiconductors.