Monte Carlo Simulation of Electron Transport in wurtzite Indium Nitride

Abstract

Among the group-III nitrides, InN displays markedly unusual electronic transport characteristics due to its smaller effective mass, high peak velocity and high background electron concentration. We present the steady-state, velocity-field characteristics of wurtzite indium nitride, determined using an ensemble Monte Carlo approach. A three valley model for the conduction band is employed and ionized impurity, polar and non polar optical phonon, acoustic deformation potential, piezoelectric, deformation potential and intervalley scattering mechanisms are considered. The sensitivity of these steady-state results to variations in temperature and doping concentration is examined. Our results suggest that the transport characteristics of indium nitride are superior to those of gallium nitride and gallium arsenide, over a wide range of temperatures, from 77 to 600 𝐾, and doping concentrations, up to 1.0𝑥1019 𝑐𝑚 −3. Hence, indium nitride has considerable potential for device applications.