The Phonon-assisted Auger Effect in Semiconductors

Some calculations on the effect of phonons on Auger recombination and impact ionization in semiconductors with simple bands are presented. It is shown that phonon-assisted Auger recombination will dominate the direct Auger process at low temperatures, and that in highly doped specimens the recombination rate due to the phonon-assisted Auger effect can be comparable with rates generally expected from other mechanisms. At low carrier temperatures the rate of phonon-assisted impact ionization will be greater than the direct impact ionization rate. However, phonon-assisted impact ionization may be difficult to detect because of other complications.